Chronicles of Cybertron: Dawn
by enmused
Summary: [Pre-G1] The Quintessons. An empire known throughout the galaxy for their sinister ways, led by their Judges in a totalitarian society. As a race constantly pushing to further their technology, the discovery of a powerful new energy source, a crystal known as energon, is one of their greatest achievements. But little did they know what was in store for them. A3 origins. Slight AU.
1. Chapter 1

**This fic will be heavily based off of the G1 universe following the cartoon premise that the Cybertronian race was created by the Quintessons. Vector Sigma and other semi-deities will come into play as I see fit. Not everything will be cannon; this is fanfiction after all. :p In fact, this story may turn out quite AU.**

**This is my first fanfic and I have big plans for an epic trilogy following this story-line. I appreciate any advice or suggestions that you may have on characters, cannon lore, whatnot and etc.**

**Please read and review; constructive criticism is very much welcomed. Flamers will be fed to sharkticons. Earth time translations are available on my profile page.**

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_Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or the Quintessons. I own only my oc's and my imagination. Credit goes to Aerisnoir for certain ideas on Quintesson culture and etiquette. _

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**Chapter One**

A Scheme, a Plot, and a Plan

_Beta read by the amazing Cairistona._

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A small group of four quintesson scientists levitated awkwardly with their thin, whip-like tentacles knotting themselves nervously, some twitching in impatience as they waited.

They were in the conference hall by the request of the Judges to report on the recent progress, or lack thereof, within the mining facilities located on the rogue planetoid that now orbited their home world. The quintessons in question had little to do with the actually mining facilities, but they were the main force behind the design and function of the drones used in the operation.

"There must be another way to go about such a plan!" the smallest quintesson, and the most squeamish of the four hissed urgently to his companions. "I do not feel comfortable with such a direct confrontation; if we're suspected in even the slightest..."

Alchana, the ranking scientist of the group, and leader if you will, could feel her patience waning as an argument was already starting to break out between her lesser colleagues. She had waited far too long for this audience with the judges to have it ruined by her foolish accomplices. Requesting a hearing with the triad of rulers was no easy task; Alchana was extremely lucky that they had summoned them in response to her 'request'.

If these fools she worked with didn't start pulling themselves together then there would be pit to pay. Failure would mean nothing, but the cost of success was too great for them to afford such needless bickering. Alchana was thankful that Tiron was with her and was able to keep them silent for the most part.

"Your opinions are meaningless to us, Slovak!" came the angry replies of the two quintessons beside her. These two in particular shared similar qualities in their appearance, suggesting a brotherly kinship.

"Our proposal is soundly based and will provide the desired results. They have no grounds on which to deny progress of this caliber." One of the brothers stated calmly, standing as the voice of reason.

The other brother, slightly bulkier and darker skinned in comparison, snorted, "Of course, Tiron, other than the fact that we plan to forcefully usurp the tyrants." This quintesson was Bithon, the older brother out of the two pod mates, and his remark was pointedly ignored by the other three.

"I must agree with Tiron; his reasoning has a valid point which they cannot ignore." The female scientist paused before smirking slightly, "Although I have since learned that you are often blind to logic, programmer."

Slovak paled even as his face contorted in fury at the underlying insult, but the normally submissive quint refused to back down. "You fail to understand me, Alchana; the Judges are not blind. They will see right through your little scheme."

"That is _Professor_ Alchana to you, Slovak. Your idle fears accomplish nothing. If the Judges wish to stop us, then they will, but I am counting on their foolish trust in their positions to allow us to continue. By the time they realize their mistake, it will be too late for them to stop us." She responded evenly; she could not afford to be riled up before the Judges.

"I still don't see how the likes of you will be any different, much less better." Slovak retorted sharply.

Bithon, the larger brother, flared his levitation device and snarled in the smaller quint's face, "You would do well to watch your glossa if I were you." He pulled back when passing civilians started giving the group suspicious glances.

Alchana merely grinned, her steel blue eyes flashing dangerously as she watched her companions bicker. Because she was the only three-faced quintesson out of her group, she outranked them all; that on top of being a femme made them hesitant to indulge in their typically more... creative arguments. They had every right to be cautious within her presence; her three faces knew only logic, anger, and ambition. She would not stand this endless stupidity for long though.

"Listen you fools! I don't necessarily like any of you, but our plans will only work if you pull yourselves together. That also means refraining from telling the public our entire agenda." She glared sharply at Bithon, whose voice had begun to rise as the argument progressed, drawing the attentions of several ears that she did not want to deal with at that moment.

Tiron hurriedly pulled his brother away in an attempt to calm him before something or someone snapped. Bithon shook his tentacles off with a shrug, but proceeded to hold his glossa. Showing up before the judges in a foul temper was never wise, especially when one was planning to deceive them.

Alchana's face momentarily swapped to a brightly colored red and midnight blue accented persona, expressing her anger at the two scientists. Slovak had conveniently slunk into a corner, hoping to stay out of the others' way._ 'A wise decision'_, Alchana noted subconsciously.

Just as Alchana prepared to remind them of their positions, a large brute-like quintesson body guard motioned that they were to follow him into the auditorium. Alchana instantly returned to her cool icy blue colored default, and her more logical self took the lead while the other three quints trailed behind, grateful that they had escaped one of her renowned verbal lashings.

The auditorium was much larger than any of them expected, and although they made no footsteps, every little rustle seemed to echo as they made their way across the long entrance way. The hall itself was richly adorned with regal colors and highly accented with gold, causing Alchana's focus to wander in awe. The three judges floated on extravagant thrones laid out in a pyramid formation before a great pit which was said to have no bottom. Each of the five-faced quintesson judges bore the five faces of death as their default, resulting in the terrible combination that earned their dictatorship its title.

The judges looked over the scientists scathingly before one of them spoke, "Honored Professor Alchana-Duani -head of Robotic AI Research and Development, Betois wing, second division of Yarxtan; make your report." Lord Kledji stated; his voice was factual and emotionless even as he nearly spat out her title. When death was one's default there was little need for pleasantries.

Alchana swallowed quickly and maneuvered forward to distinguish herself what little she could.

"As you know from previous reports, we have had some difficulties in the mining operations on the rogue planetoid." She paused briefly before continuing; her voice sounding firmly throughout the room as she gained more confidence. Hesitation was not an option.

"The current drones in operation have been found insufficient in several ways when it comes to the finer details of the project. To illustrate, I have taken the liberty of sending several datas worth of incident reports from the last orn and a half." Alchana looked up and repressed a smug smile as the judges began accessing the data on their personal view screens. She waited several moments before continuing in order for them to scan through what she had sent them.

"As you can see, the drones clearly lack the necessary, how shall I put it, know-how in order to properly mine this particularly volatile element. If you take notice of the time-stamps, you will see that these are all very recent incidents." Alchana maneuvered backwards with a formal half bow and a carefully hidden smirk as she began the delicate campaign of lies. True, the drones were clumsy and had caused a substantial amount of losses, but many of the lesser incidents had been created merely to make a more convincing report. "I will allow my colleague Slovak-Anur to elaborate further details on the actual damage reports."

The smaller quintesson levitated forward with only a moment's hesitance. Alchana sent him a long look as he moved past her, warning him not to mess around.

"The latest incidents have been mostly minor, with the exception of the catastrophe in sector F-13 beta." He was forced to halt his presentation when the judges accessed the information given them. Their outrage was understandable. The accident had been quite costly as they had lost several dozen drones and the cavern had collapsed in a large explosion. It did not help that that particular mine shaft contained the largest deposit of the raw crystal they had yet to see.

"As you can see in the reports, the cave-in was caused because the drones failed to sense the highly concentrated pocket of methane plasma. In part, this was the fault of the programmer in question," Slovak looked up and quickly went on after seeing the hard looks the judges gave him. As if it were their fault; the drones in question were manufactured in Klavion. "But, I believe that if we could create a more self-aware drone that it would be able to successfully sense danger and react as necessary to prevent similar incidents."

"You dare to presume that we allow the creation of a sentient drone!" The maroon and scarlet adorned Judge known as Derodomontatus cried out in outrage, and the other two judges murmured angrily amongst themselves.

Alchana moved forward quickly, sensing the degrading situation. "Please, your Excellencies, hear me out fully before you misunderstand our intentions!" She very nearly shouted at them to get their attention.

"We do not propose the creation of a sentient being." She said very quickly, her mind rapidly trying to think of how to phrase what she was going to say next. Whatever she said next would have to be very carefully worded.

"Explain." The green and golden gilded Judge, Heirodyus, if she remembered correctly, interrupted her thoughts, but she noticed he seemed curious. Alchana felt that this was a good sign, as she could manipulate curiosity far better than animosity.

"What I would like to point out is that these 'self-aware' drones, sentient, as you have deemed them will not fully live up to the definition of the word." Alchana continued and ignored the doubtful looks the judges gave her. "The drones would have no thoughts, no individuality, no will of their own; they would still be nothing more than mere automatons with programmed intelligence."

The judges considered this and began debating amongst themselves in whispered tones. Alchana decided that this would be a good opportunity to turn back to her colleagues for a moment.

"This was not a good idea, Alchana! We should have just reprogrammed the d-drones and be done with it." Slovak's tone was nearing a whine, and he cautiously lowered his voice.

"Impossible. Surely even you must realize that." Alchana said flatly, not wanting the judges to overhear any possible implications. Of course, the fact that she had already reclaimed the frames of several non-functional drones in preparation was very different then outright reformatting a prototype without permission. If they had the Judges' consent, then they had less vulnerability should there be any... accidents.

"Be silent, both of you." Tiron said darkly, and Slovak withered slightly under his gaze while Alchana fumed. Tiron ignored them and refocused on the judges' quiet argument. He cocked his head slightly, and Alchana gave him a glare that said 'you better tell me what you're thinking or else.'

"Patience Duani, all in due time..." He broke off as he listened more carefully. He frowned and refocused on the others. "They have reached their decision, but it would seem they are understandably wary of your proposal." Tiron watched Alchana carefully, gauging her face before continuing. "I suggest you do something to ease their judgment."

Alchana remained silent, semicolon instead of comma she knew she should do something, but her skills did not lie in flattery. Tiron of all people should know that. Alchana glanced over at Bithon and motioned him closer with a small flick of her tentacles. He nodded; they had rehearsed this possibility.

"We have reached a verdict." Lord Kledji spoke for all of the Judges.

"You will be allowed this proposal of yours, and we will require a progress report every three rotations." Derodomontatus said with an edge of scorn in his voice.

Bithon levitated himself forward slightly and dipped his head in respect, "We thank you for your most gracious acceptance, your Excellencies. Rest assured that we shall do everything to the best of our abilities to suit the purpose of the Quintesson Empire. You will not be disappointed!" Even to him the words sounded mockingly respectful, for try as he might he could not keep his disdain completely hidden. The sickly sweet flattery did little to affect the judges, however, and they made no sign of even acknowledging his vain exaltations.

"Dismissed." Heirodyus said impassively, and their bulky escort ushered the scientists out of the chamber.

Alchana knew she would have to watch where to put her tentacles. Nothing could be hidden from the Judges, even if they chose to remain silent. She knew that now. Seeing the judges face to face had reminded them all of just how foreboding the future was should they not pay attention. For some it was a challenge to be accepted, for others it would cast a shadow on their minds. The judges were not known for their mercy when it came to traitors of the empire.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Progress or the Lack Thereof

_Beta read__ by Cairistona_

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It had been nearly an orn since the inquiry with the judges. Progress had been slow, and Alchana was frustrated well beyond her limits. The other three scientists had quickly learned to be silent and continue their work without complaint for fear of her wrath. The truth was that they were just as frustrated as she was, but they could not voice their opinions without volunteering to be Alchana's verbal whipping post. Everyone was tense, and the laboratory seethed with a vicious silence.

Alchana had chosen to seclude herself for the most part into a far corner of the lab where she could study her reports and logs more privately. There were various schematics scattered around her console, and the view screen was littered with several dozen code bases open on the holo-interface.

'Nothing makes sense!' Alchana thought angrily, her temper barely kept in check. At this point in time, anyone who approached her would be subjected to a tirade of angry words expressing her stress.

She had tried everything she could think of, and still nothing worked. The drones simply could not handle the strain of the new self-awareness programming. The common energy sources available to them were just not powerful enough to boot up the new processors. She had personally gutted two disabled drones and rebuilt them piece by piece according to her exact specifications, yet they refused to even activate. Slovak had tried two different core program rewrites and still nothing. As far as she was concerned, Bithon, the older P'thian brother, had been useless so far, caring only for the aesthetic appearances of the 'new and improved' drones, or so he had labeled them; not that he had any talent in the matter. Tiron, however, had worked quietly and efficiently by her side as always, never complaining about the lack of progress.

Nothing could ever be easy for her, something, _something_, always had to go wrong. She should have learned to expect that by now.

"They must do it to spite me." Alchana mumbled vaguely, referring to the drones as if they were somehow already sentient and were purposely refusing to respond. She turned around and glared at the two silvery figures of the rebuilt drones. They stared back at her coldly, lifelessly. She groaned and rubbed her eyes fiercely with her tentacles.

'I must need a break' Alchana thought listlessly; she hadn't left the lab for more than a breem at a time in the last seven rotations. It hadn't been necessary in her eyes; nutrients were supplied in the lab, not that she ever bothered to consume them, and as a scientist, she was accustomed to long orns without rest. Still, she was a ranking professor and could exit the lab as she pleased.

She glared carefully at the lesser scientists as she left the lab, a silent warning that they were not to stop working in her absence. She frowned deeply, for there wasn't much for them to do really; they had all hit rock bottom progress-wise. Many of the lesser scientists withered under her gaze, and the older ones simply continued what little they were working on as she passed.

Alchana punched a button on the lift and absent-mindedly waited for it to stop; she had decided to go to the courtyard stationed at the top of the science building. Although she would never admit it, she had always found the view from up there to be exhilarating.

The way the large binary Quintessan suns flared brightly over the peaks of the province's tallest towers, casting elongated purple shadows as the rotation was ending, while the city beyond began to light up in preparation for the night cycles. The sparse atmosphere allowed the stars to shine softly in contrast to the blazing scarlet suns even in broad light. Together it created an awe inspiring beauty that even she was susceptible to.

Alchana almost allowed herself a small smile and released a tense breath of air as she slowly relaxed her shoulders for the first time in many a joor. _'One day, this will all be yours.'_ She thought to herself.

Alchana suddenly whipped her head around at the sound of the lift returning and glared as Tiron levitated himself forward.

"Relax, Alchana," Tiron took the risk of sounding smug at her surprise.

"What do you want?" She hissed.

"What makes you think I want anything?" he asked amiably with a light smirk on his face. "Did you consider that perhaps I am here for presumably the same reason you are?" He gestured vaguely at the view behind her. The reddish tinge of the sky was fading quickly and soon the darkened purple hues enveloped the citadel.

Alchana snorted, "In case you hadn't noticed, you're a few clicks too late. The display is already finished."

Tiron chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, "Ah, you have me at that." He wouldn't try and argue with her. All he really wanted was to relax a bit in the evening air, the same thing she had obviously come out for.

"I'm not in the mood for your nonsense, Tiron." Alchana's voice hadn't lost its edge, but she knew she sounded tired, and she hated herself for the display of weakness. "So I ask again, what do you want?"

"Really, Alchana, be reasonable..." he continued his attempts of being at ease without much success.

"No matter what I do, I cannot succeed!" She began to pace on the rooftop, her levitation boosters flaring angrily. "I am surrounded by incompetent idiots who can't tell the difference between slag and coolant! Not to mention that all my plans are for nothing since we can't even activate a single drone!" Her face changed she yelled at him, all the pent up frustration pouring out of her. She was distraught with emotion and the combined lack of sleep and progress.

Tiron winced visibly at the insult but remained silent; he hoped she would be able to release her frustration, and then perhaps she would feel less inclined to terrify the scientists at her disposal. He hoped. Alchana was a hard femme to predict at the best of times, and he'd been around her far longer than any other quint he'd met, scientist or otherwise. While he wouldn't classify himself as her friend, he was the closest thing she had for companionship.

"…'re useless. Are you even paying attention to me!?" Alchana paused in her ranting and huffed deeply, waiting for him to answer.

"Have you finished yet?" Tiron asked after mentally noting that her scarlet hued face remained in dominance.

Alchana sputtered slightly, "W-what!?" That clearly was not the response she had expected.

Tiron sighed, "Are you capable of carrying on a conversation like the respectable quintesson scientist that you are and I know you to be?"

She remained silent, and Tiron waited with bated breath. Tiron knew he was pushing her, and he would most likely regret it, but she needed someone to give her a push, and that task ultimately fell to him.

For a moment Alchana looked ready to slap him right on the spot, and she very nearly gave in to the temptation, yet she remained unmoving, her motives conflicting as she glowered in his direction.

'How dare he!' Anger was flooding her thoughts, and she found it hard to think clearly, but somewhere, deep inside, she knew she needed this. For the most part, all she felt was her rage and frustration knotting her tentacles. It took a great deal of conscious effort to default back to her logical persona, and Alchana knew then just how exhausted she really was. She looked up and found Tiron still looking toward her; his face showed that he was slightly fearful of her, and she felt a strange feeling in her gut, but his expression also held something she couldn't quite understand or label. He was pensive, almost concerned looking.

Somewhere, deep inside, she knew she needed this. But, for the most part, all she felt was her rage.

Alchana brushed the thought aside and pulled herself together. Tiron had a habit of making her feel and think many things that she would prefer not to feel, and he had developed an uncanny ability to read through her anger over the many vorns they had worked together. But for now she needed to get away, to find a quiet to process her own thoughts in. Then, and only then, would she be ready to work again.

"I believe I am going to go to my quarters." She stated simply and levitated to the lift, "Send me all the data concerning the project to my personal console for revision." And then she was gone.

Tiron spent another few breems staring out over the balcony before also entering the lift and returning to the lab. He also had much to do.

Immediately upon entering her quarters Alchana felt more relaxed than she had in last two rotations. By no means was she at ease, though, despite her surroundings. At times she felt like the lab, as dreary as it was, was by far more familiar than her own quarters. She looked around briefly and swiped her tentacles across an empty counter and scowled disgustedly at the dust that gathered at the tips. Her quarters were rather sparsely decorated, a counter in one corner, her personal console in another, and a nutrient dispenser. A small room was partitioned off for a more private area where she could sleep. In her opinion, the necessities were all she needed.

"I spend far too much time in that scrap heap of a lab." She grumbled jadedly before sitting down at her desk and bringing up the user interface. One of the advantages of being head scientist was that one always got the best technology seeing as more often than not you played a part in its design. Alchana smiled as the screen beeped quietly, alerting her that Tiron had already sent the files to her console. Her expression clouded slightly when she thought of her colleague, but she brushed the feeling off quickly.

The next few joors were fairly uneventful, almost to the point of boredom. Alchana had to admit, though, working in her quarters was a lot more productive since she didn't have to deal with all the malfunctions who called themselves scientists. Alchana's mood remained somewhat pessimistic, however, as she went through the multiple failed activation logs and various reports.

Here and there, Alchana would rewrite a faulty line of code, but she could find nothing seriously out-of-place that would explain why the drones' activation sequence failed. At this point in time, the programming could not be faulted; it was by far the most immaculate arrangement of code she could hope for. The lack of success was exceedingly frustrating, and soon Alchana was worse off than she had been in the lab.

Alchana got up and began randomly roaming through her quarters, internally fuming at the constant failures of her colleagues. She could not be the one at fault; she had made no mistakes of her own.

Another short bleep sounded from her console, and Alchana whipped her head up in annoyance at being disturbed. _'What is it now!_' she thought sourly before maneuvering back to her desk and activating the view screen. There was a small note from a private domain; this didn't bother Alchana in the slightest as she could hack the system within a few clicks if she had a mind to discover who the user was.

The note simply stated, "Look beyond the programming."

Alchana growled softly; the audacity of some squids never ceased to amaze her. There was nothing beyond the programming except an empty shell; programming was the very essence of every drone. Without programming to give them function, they were nothing but hardware and wiring.

"Not as if they had any real individual essence anyways..." Alchana murmured thoughtfully and turned back to her console to bring up the activation logs again. They were the same; the drones energy cores could not sustain an activation sequence. It was almost like the programming was rejecting the drone's hardware.

_'Look beyond the programming._' The sentence echoed through Alchana's head, and she found herself grimacing at the notion that she had over-looked something and this simple phrase had pointed out her error. The programming relied on the hardware, the physical aspects of the drone, in order to function properly. Since she had already picked over every inch of the new awareness codes and had found nothing wrong, logically that meant the fault was in the hardware and circuitry.

Logically, it meant she had made an oversight in all her planning and designs.

Alchana off lined her terminal and exited her quarters quickly. It was nearing the end of the rotation, so she knew that the lab would most likely be empty, allowing her room to work at her own pace.

When she got there, she found it devoid of life, a lone panel flickered dimly where it had been left on. Alchana quickly brightened her work station and picked up several tools from underneath a stack of schematics, then allowed herself a small grin as she began to dismantle the drone nearest to her. While she was the head of the AI department, it was by no means her only skill, she could easily disassemble a drone and put it back together in a breem with her eyes closed. Finding the proper parts to upgrade the drones systems would be a bit harder; she would most likely have to make a special request to the factory complex.

With what could only be described as juvenile glee, Alchana began digging into the internal wiring, her pale yellow face alight as she worked. It would probably take the full length of both night cycles to finish what she was starting, but when she was done... Everything would start coming together.

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When Tiron entered the lab and found the door unlocked and the terminals active early in the next rotation, he instantly resolved to give his brother Bithon another lesson on how to properly lock up the lab when he left for the night. Sometimes his brother seemed to be nothing more than a drone himself, despite the fact Tiron knew him to be a capable, if not an arrogant, scientist. More often than not, it felt as if he was the older pod mate.

His surprise at finding a dozing Alchana-Duani, however, was to be expected, and he let out a startled gasp when he saw her slumped against a counter, levitation device still active and flickering weakly. Although in retrospect, he thought, it wasn't entirely unsuspected. He had after all sent her that little snippet last rotation; it wasn't entirely impossible that he had somehow triggered an epiphany.

Not that he could afford to take any credit, for it would have been entirely the result of his esteemed colleague's genius, he thought briefly if not just a little bitterly. It was not the first time he had nudged her into the right direction, but he respected her greatly and there was no reason for her to know. Besides, if she had wanted to, she would have already found him out quartex ago.

Tiron cautiously maneuvered his thrusters around her form to better see what she had been worked on. His gaze landed on the large form of a third drone. Alchana must not have seen fit to continue working on the other two previously rebuilt drones, he realized. It was logical, he supposed, to restart from scratch than fight with rebuilding previously rebuilt drones.

This new drone's visage structure was slightly different from what he and Bithon had designed, and it made the drone seem more… personified. At the moment, the drone was stripped of its heavier outer amour which limited what he could tell of its aesthetic nature aside from its basic structure; however, he suspected that similar redesigns would be most likely.

From what he could tell, she had completely redesigned the internal wiring structure. Now, instead of following a standard grid-line arrangement, the internal coolant lines and energy dispersal followed a strange neural pattern. Looking closer, Tiron grudgingly admitted it's surprisingly efficient design. It was all he could do as an engineer not to poke around and explore the nooks and crannies of this alien design that Alchana had employed.

Alchana's form suddenly shifted slightly, and he retreated swiftly to the lab's entryway where he could re-enter the laboratory when she was fully awake. It was best for him to be out of her way when she woke up. He knew from previous experiences similar to this that she was not a pleasant riser, especially when having fallen asleep while working. The last thing he wanted was to be on the receiving end of that unpleasantness.

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**I hope you all are enjoying the story so far! Unfortunately we won't be seeing A-3 for a while yet, but I am slowly setting the stage for his arrival.**

**I should be able to update semi-frequently since the first dozen chapters or so are already edited or in the process of being edited. Please review; it really encourages me to post more often!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

An Innocent Variable

_Beta-read by Cairistona_

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The first thing Alchana felt as she gradually woke up was the unpleasant feeling of nothing tingling in her tentacles. Without moving, she tried to recall where she had left off in her work before exhaustion had overcome her forcefully. Alchana groaned irritably, and she twitched her tentacles roughly to stimulate the return of feeling.

It did not take long for her to regain sensation as her mind picked up seamlessly from where it had left off the previous rotation. She had completed almost all the necessary hardware replacements with the exceptions of a select few components that she did not have immediate access to at the time. She had also taken the time to properly design a new visage in order to differentiate it from the other drones; it was also a small step to spite the P'Thian brothers. Alchana looked over the new drone scathingly, eyeing every detail to be sure there were no mistakes made in her exhausted state, not that she expected to find any.

Tiron chose that moment to levitate into the lab. Alchana sighed as the tension that had eased between her shoulders snapped firmly back into place as soon as she realized she was not alone.

"You may enter." She stated with a slight breath of annoyance.

"I see you have accomplished much by enduring through the late joors of the night cycle." He observed, pointedly not acknowledging the fact that he didn't need her permission to enter the lab.

"Surely by now you realize that I am not one to be slack when there is work to be done." Alchana sneered.

"Of course not." Tiron had moved closer in order to finish his inspection of her drone, "Your presence here is proof of that." He added in reference to having found her passed out in the lab. The underlined bit isn't necessary since he isn't revealing that he found her asleep.

Alchana's snarled softly, and her gaze landed harshly on Tiron. He meant no disrespect, she was sure of that, but sometimes it was good to remind him of his place. He seemed to realize this, and when he spoke next, it was in a much more subdued tone.

"I'd noticed that you redesigned its facial plating." he stated with a hint of curiosity.

Alchana smirked slightly, "I found your brother's design to be distasteful. A most unsuitable aspect for something you plan on spending many quartex working with."

Tiron nodded and continued his inspection, "That is understandable." He reached inside the drone's frame with a tentacle and absently adjusted a few wires to his liking, "There are several major components that have yet to be installed." He hesitated, wondering just how wise it would be to point out an error to his colleague. He decided to ask anyways, keeping in mind that Alchana made plans for many things without telling him unless he asked. "You do realize that we will have to obtain a more powerful energy source in order to sustain these hardware upgrades."

"So you noticed, did you?" Alchana said dryly; it was an obvious fact that the upgrades would need a more powerful energy source. "The whole point of these upgrades was to enable the use of a more powerful energy source. Without them, the raw feedback of the source I have in mind would destroy the earlier prototypes within breems."

Tiron tensed up slightly as he realized just what energy source she was planning on using. He knew only a little bit about the newly discovered crystals mined on the captured planetoid, but it was enough. "You are planning to use the energon crystals, aren't you." It wasn't a question.

Alchana sighed heavily; she should have known he might object out of ignorance. "It is the only option available to me, and I intend to use my resources to their fullest." She spoke rhythmically, as if speaking to a lesser intelligence.

Tiron frowned, his forehead creasing with disapproval. "The crystal is not stable enough for such usage."

"It is perfectly stable if handled properly." She argued through clenched teeth. He did not seem to be arguing from ignorance after all; in fact, he seemed to be more concerned for the safety risks than anything else. "And you can be assured that I will handle it properly."

It was her colleague's turn to sigh, and she knew that he wouldn't argue with her anymore. That was one of the main reasons she kept him around for so long; he knew when to quit and just stand by her decisions. Any other quint would either argue for the sake of argument or stand down without a word. And truthfully, she enjoyed a good argument… but only with the right kind of person.

"I …understand Alchana." Tiron finally ended up saying, his tone resigned. He could only hope that she knew what she was doing. Alchana always knew what she was doing, though, so he knew his hope wouldn't be misplaced. He would just have to trust her.

"Very good." She paused and looked around the lab. The other scientists had arrived and were scuffling around their workstations, picking up their projects from the previous rotation. "Shall we get to work then? I will need you to contact Overseer Remin to see about getting a small supply of energon crystals…" She continued listing a few more things that she needed picked up immediately; a materials request form would take too long to be filled.

Once done telling Tiron what items she needed, Alchana moved onward to finish what minor adjustments she could on the prototype without the parts she needed. Tiron's wry expression quickly turned into a darkened glower as he realized that it would take him a good three joors to get everything on her list. And he had really wanted to further inspect the reformatted drone; it was a beautifully complex weave of machinery that had captured his utmost attention as the engineer he was.

"Excuse me, Sir, for interrupting."

Tiron looked around, coming out of his thoughtful daze. There was a younger single faced quintesson trying to get his attention. He was obviously very new to the lab and seemed somewhat skittish when he looked up at him.

"Yes?" He asked cautiously, normally the newbie technicians didn't bother their higher ups.

"The Honorable Professor Duani requested that I go to the factory complex to pick up some components for the prototype drone." The young technician faltered and looked downward, his tentacles wringing themselves anxiously.

"Go on." Tiron encouraged him with a slight edge of annoyance. . Alchana had probably given a list to someone else for the more minor pieces of equipment. No doubt whoever that particular quint was had passed his task on the youngling; a common enough occurrence within the lab's perking order.

"Well, you see, sir..." he paused again before resuming eye contact with a fiercely determined glint in his eyes. He could do this. "I don't know exactly where to go, or how to accomplish my task."

Tiron looked back down at the young quint, now giving him his full attention. It took a lot in his opinion to ask for help from a higher up. He had known several other, unnamed colleagues of his, who would rather float around until someone else did the job for them. It was obvious to Tiron that this young one had his pride.

Tiron sighed; he had nothing better to do at the moment._ 'Why not?'_ he figured. He was headed to the same place after all.

"You had best come with me..." He stopped, realizing he had no idea who this technician was.

"Hemir," he supplied, dipping his head respectfully as he introduced himself. "Hemir-Attra of Betois, junior Technician. I was transferred to Yaos just over three rotations ago."

Tiron nodded thoughtfully and gestured for him to follow. The factory complex, while easy to find for the most part, was not an easy place to navigate, especially when you didn't know what to look for.

Several breems later, Hemir stood beside Tiron looking around in awe. The building itself was immense, and colossal spires spewed exhaust while the noise of machinery drummed loudly in the background. The distracting noise was enough to make everyone within a hic's distance want to get as far away as possible. How the engineers and technicians here managed to function with such a distraction was anyone's guess. It was amazing.

Tiron was rather disdainful of the place; it was loud, dirty, and upon entering the complex with his young charge, Tiron discovered that it was just as disorganized as it was the last time he visited. Several workers were scurrying to and fro carrying various and sundry papers or schematics while others were arguing over how something or other should be designed. The chaos sustained within the factory was astounding; Tiron honestly believed he would be driven out of his mind if forced to work in this environment. Yet, somehow, they managed to maintain the famed recognition of being the top producing factory complex in the Citadel.

"There's plenty of time to admire the view later; you have a task to perform." Tiron abruptly stated, distracting the younger technician from his sight seeing.

"Yes, sir!" he said and nodded eagerly. Tiron was slightly confused by this display of emotion; what reason was there for excitement? He had never known anyone, save Alchana, who found such joviality in a simple job. But then again, his colleague was known for her extreme mood swings. That still didn't explain Hemir's odd display though.

Shaking his head and resigning himself to the things he would never fully understand, Tiron began to weave his way through the complex to the station where the order would be carried out the quickest. He had been here too long already, and his head throbbed with painful reminders of the loud drumming that filled the buildings.

"The pathways leading through the building are very... misleading. It would be best if you pay attention if you are required to navigate them alone." Tiron warned and complained at the same time. He couldn't count the number of times Bithon had gotten lost and had needed someone, namely him, to guide him out of the maze-like complex.

"Should I compose a holo-map for future reference?" Hemir asked as he began setting up a program on his data pad without waiting for a response. With his little to no ranking, he expected that he would be sent on similar errand runs quite often. That was just the way of things.

"That would be wise." Tiron intoned, slightly impressed. Perhaps this young quint would be worthy of further interest. He would have to discuss it with Alchana... or perhaps not. He knew that she would not be pleased at the inclusion of yet another into her personal agenda. Especially a youngling with absolutely no outside influence.

He pondered this quickly; he did not even know enough about this youngling to tell how he would view their plans. Tiron knew that many of the general population found the occupational tyranny of the Judges to be distasteful, but for all he knew Hemir could be one of the many faithful.

Maybe he could find a way to mentor him, without involving him in personal affairs. Tiron was so deep in thought that he hardly acknowledged when they arrived in front of the doorway of the Overseers office.

_'Perhaps I am getting ahead of myself.'_ Tiron thought as he noticed the highly expectant look he was receiving from Hemir, too expectant.

"I hope you realize I will not be doing your task for you."

"Oh... Of course not, Sir." the youngling looked slightly downcast but quickly straightened himself before adding respectfully, "I thank you for your assistance in accompanying me here."

Hemir shouldn't have expected anything more from the older quint. _'Stupid, stupid, stupid...' _Hemir berated himself mentally. Of course, Tiron wouldn't do the job for him! How could he have made such a foolish mistake so easily? He barely knew the quint!

Tiron gave a barely perceptible nod of acknowledgement, completely unaware of the younger quintesson's inner thoughts. "I will wait here as I have business of my own to attend to once you are finished."

Hemir did not reply, but instead he faced the doorway and passed a stiff tentacle over the entry sensor. The doors opened with a swoosh and closed quickly behind him. _'Well, this is it then.'_ He thought nervously as he went through the doorway.

Tiron sighed exasperatedly and shook his head for the second time that rotation. He hoped the Overseer wouldn't be too hard on him; Overseer Vaix wasn't known for his enthusiasm when it came to specialized orders. Especially from the research and development departments.

Just then, a ping came from the communications relays built into Tiron's personal data pad. It was a much newer model than that of Hemir's, capable of many useful and equally un-useful things. He opened the program immediately when it notified him of who was contacting him.

_'Tiron here Alchana.'_

_'Good. I need you to consult with Overseer Vaix about the problems concerning the energy feedback you mentioned earlier with the prototypes new overhauled hardware.'_

_'So, we're actually calling them prototypes now are we?'_ Tiron tapped out, purposely jabbing at her non-existent sense of humor through the text-based relay. _'The next thing we'll be doing is naming them and asking them what color paint they want!'_ he sent back sarcastically.

_'What does how we label them as have to do with anything!?'_ She responded quickly, and he imagined she was furiously glowering at the console she was at. _'Just get his opinion, will you? I need to deal with Slovak. Alchana out.'_ The inferred 'again' was left out. Slovak, the poor squid, was probably whining about something or other like he always was.

Tiron chuckled; the relay communications were enjoyable. He always could manage to tease her safely without having to be in her presence. Bithon always scolded him, saying that such things were childish, but coming from him that was more of a compliment. Concern for whatever punishment Alchana had in store for Slovak was nonexistent, brief amusement in its place. Alchana had probably just used Slovak as an excuse to cut the conversation short" works better.

Tiron had already planned on talking to the overseer in any case since he had already navigated the complex while escorting Hemir. There was little point in putting it off; a couple of joors were unlikely to change vorns of accumulated gruffness.

Tiron sighed and leaned against the wall opposite the Overseer's office, wondering vaguely how long it would take Hemir. He estimated that it would either take a relatively short period of time or that he would be waiting for at least two groons. There was a fifty-fifty chance either way, depending on how Overseer Vaix viewed the youngling.

Just for the fun of it, Tiron waged a bet against himself. If it took less than two breems, then he would confront the possibility of mentoring the young technician; if it took more than a groon then he would simply forget the idea had ever crossed his mind.

A few breems later the doorway slide open to reveal a very smug looking Hemir. Longer than the wagered two breems, but still surprisingly quick. Tiron raised a questioning eyebrow; he had not been expecting him to look so pleased with himself after dealing with the ornery overseer.

"I have successfully made the request for the parts that the Honorable Alchana required." Hemir stated proudly, basking in the surprise shown by the older engineer. Once he had figured out how susceptible Overseer Vaix was to flattery it had been easy enough to make the request.

"Very well. Return to the lab and report to Alchana, I will follow shortly." Tiron paused before praising the youngling briefly; "You have performed admirably, Hemir-Attra." He fought to prevent himself from chuckling at the beaming grin Hemir gave him. "Dismissed."

The young technician dipped his head respectfully before levitating down the hall. '_If only we all had such innocent devotion to life.'_ Tiron thought mournfully. Things hadn't always been so dark in the Citadel, he reminisced regretfully. There had once been a time where science was his joy in life, but that had been before the Judges had come into power. Now he had involved himself in things that drained away such free emotions, living in the shadows of deception and fear of discovery. But that is what he was fighting against, wasn't it?

The Judges had been ruling for nearly a thousand vorns, far longer than any quint had a right to live. When they first came into power, long before Tiron had matured, they had been strict, but generous. But as the decavorns passed they became more and more greedy, and the empire grew cold under their leadership. At first Tiron hadn't felt it as harshly as the lesser quints, after the accident though... He had since changed his views.

Tiron sighed, shaking off his dreary train of thought, and entered the overseer's office. After this, he still had to find the mining overseer in order to get the crystal samples he needed. There was little point in pondering internal gloom. He had many tasks to perform, and he preferred to be a quick as possible about it. If anything Tiron was efficient.

* * *

**Just so that you know, the communications relay is not the same as a com link. I would consider it more like texting or instant messaging. Proper comm. links between cybertronians will be introduced far later in the story.**

**You guys will have to tell me what you think of Hemir. For me, he is going to be a little spot of fluff within the story, so expect to see more of him. His interactions with Tiron are adorable!**

**Thank you all for reading, reviews make me type faster and constructive criticism is dearly loved. Special thanks to the amazing Cairistona for betaing this story despite her busy schedule.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

A New Threat

* * *

"These pathetic samples are insufficient to sustain even the shortest of activation sequences!" Alchana shouted furiously, tossing the small chunk of the volatile crystal onto the console nearest to her where it landed with a soft _thump_ on a stack of numerous schematics. Several nearby scientists could been seen cringing at her careless treatment of the substance, a few of them clearly expecting it to spontaneously combust at any moment.

All of the main scientists from Yaos had been gathered together to witness the first test run of the newest prototype, recently designated A-003. The test run was also staged to allow for a meeting between the leaders of the quintesson reformation; their followers were growing with every passing rotation and Alchana had felt that a meeting was in order. If they did not exercise the utmost care with the initiation of new recruits... the Judges were anything but just. Even she, as bold and cunning as she was, could not suppress the slight shiver of fear crawling up her spine.

The others eyed her warily; they all were here officially under the pretense of science, but all of them were thinking the same thing she was. _What happens next? Will we be discovered? _The air seemed to crackle with the tenseness, but no one seemed intent on breaking the silence.

Alchana huffed angrily; glaring at the spiteful crystal as it brightly reflected the harsh lighting in the lab. It would almost be pretty, if only it were larger. Tiron had given her a pitiful explanation telling her that they had not yet discovered an efficient way of processing the raw energy and that because of this, mining Overseer Remin was only able to give them a few skimpy shards.

"This is all the available material they had to give." Tiron spoke out into the silence.

"That does not change the fact that the prototype needs more than this for us to even begin to be able to run preliminary systems checks." Alchana retorted sharply.

Tiron chose at that time to remain silent once more, she was obviously still sore from his teasing the previous rotation. The silence returned in full force, with the occasional shifting of tentacles. It wasn't like he had anything better to offer in his defense. It had been hard enough to get as much of the rare substance as he had, and even that much was only because the mining overseer was a quiet supporter of the insurrection, otherwise he might not have had anything to give Alchana.

"Well," Bithon started daringly, "This conversation is getting us nowhere." No one said anything and he continued, now the center of attention. "What I would like to point out is that this new energy source is still quite new, not to mention somewhat rare." He scoffed humorlessly, "Does no one else see the irony in this situation? Here we are, trying to perfect a drone that will efficiently mine the very resources that we are now proposing to fuel it with."

Some of the scientists shuffled awkwardly while Alchana glared daggers at everything that moved. They could all see the logic in the dark-skinned quint's statement. Perhaps in retrospect she could have laughed at her predicament, Bithon was not known for his profound use of logic, but for now all she felt was the weight of failure crashing down on her head. '_Nothing can ever be so simple.' _

"Perhaps we could rewire the previous prototypes to allow for testing without activating the upgraded A-003." An unfamiliar quintesson suggested slowly.

Alchana jerked her head up sharply at the suggestion. It wasn't a bad idea; it could possibly give them enough info to determine whether or not the crystal was a suitable or even a compatible energy source. Unfortunately, it would also mean extra work and Alchana found herself becoming increasingly agitated with the lack of good, solid, _acknowledgeable _progress.

"It would allow us to run the preliminaries without any risk to the latest prototype." Tiron stated, unconsciously backing up his colleague's mental reasoning. He continued when Alchana made no further comments. "It would also use very little energy in comparison to fully activating the A-003 unit."

Alchana glared coldly at Tiron for a moment and he quickly stopped talking. She didn't need him to repeat what she already knew, and besides that, she had already made her decision.

"Fine. You three over there," She pointed a tentacle at Bithon and two other quints near him. "I want you to do the rewiring and I want it done by the fourth joor." Alchana ordered and the group began to disassemble. She hovered around for a few clicks to make sure they were working properly before returning to the lab's main computer console. She was just about to begin some personal research when she realized someone was behind her.

"And what do _you_ plan on doing in the meantime?" Tiron asked softly as to not draw attention to his conversation.

"What I do in my free time is none of your business." She snapped irritably.

"There is no such thing as 'free time' for one such as yourself, Duani." Tiron pointed out with a small smile. His colleague snarled slightly, but otherwise remain frustratingly silent. He prodded her further, he needed to know what she was thinking. "Indulge my curiosity, Alchana."

"If you must know, I was about to attempt some additional research concerning the origin of the planetoid from whence this crystal came."

Tiron hovered quietly for a moment, apparently deep in thought. "Is not that information considered classified?"

"Only for those without proper clearance." Alchana stated quickly, much too quickly for comfort. She mentally berated herself for her blunder. Of course, she would have to be having this particular conversation with quite possibly the only other scientist with enough intelligence to realize her mistake.

Tiron's eye ridge twitched vaguely, but he gave no sign of outwardly acknowledging her true intentions. It would be pointless in any case, it was obvious that her mind was already made up. They had been playing this guessing game and had observed each other long enough to know exactly what their counterpart was planning. Most of the time. Tiron still had moments when Alchana left him in the dark until he approached her on the subject, now being one such moment.

"I see." He finally said, "I shall leave you to it then." After this brief dismissal he left quickly to go supervise the work on adapting the older prototype models. After all, he was the only qualified engineer in the lab. Alchana only remembered later that she hadn't actually given him a formal task. Nonetheless, he was a diligent worker and would no doubt find something useful to do.

Flicking her tentacles slightly, as if she could dispel her distracting thoughts with the motion, Alchana flexed her shoulders and began to focus on sifting through the databases until she came to the files she needed. What she was doing now was not without considerable risk, if she was found hacking into some of the most tightly secured files in the Citadel then she would be damned to the pit for sure. Or worse, at least in her opinion, being stripped of her name and title. Without her cause, without her sciences and research she was nothing, just an empty shell without a purpose. _Drones_ at least retained a purpose when they were smelted down into new frames.

She flicked her tentacles again, this time more agitatedly. Why was it that she could not push away these distractions, these _fears_? She had been working towards this for vorns and now that she had finally achieved a position that held power she couldn't start doubting herself when it came to the dirty work. Not that much of anything within the empire's system _wasn't_ dirty.

"Ah, here we are." Alchana mumbled to herself, happy to finally be getting somewhere, as she typed a sequence into the console. She had successfully hacked into the database containing the files she needed. There were datas after datas worth of reports and theories on the planetoid. After a quick scan through the directory, she opened a file labeled 'Initial Overviews' and started with the oldest ones from a vorn or two ago.

_[Time-stamp: 3605; second rotation, 14th orn]_

_/Log entry #1 concerning rogue planetoid/_

_-Entry made by Honorable Professor Menth-Thial of the Celestial Observations in Klavion-_

_It has been brought to my attention by top astronomers that a small rogue planet has been sighted in space sector Gamma 3. The planet is unlike anything we have ever seen before and I have made an inquiry to the High Inquisitor concerning its discovery. Permission has not yet been granted to study it's composition. My scientists have been put on visual duty to track its every movement and to observe what we can from a distance. Our sensors will provide more information once a probe is deployed._

_[Time-stamp: 1247; fifth rotation, 14th orn]_

_/Log entry #2 concerning rogue planetoid/_

_-Entry made by Honorable Professor Menth-Thial of the Celestial Observations in Klavion-_

_I attended a meeting early this rotation to discuss the situation concerning the rogue planet with the High Inquisitor himself. It is a great honor to speak with the highest ranking quintesson within the Citadel, respectfully excluding the Judges._

_-/Additional log/-_

_The meeting was less pleasant than I was intending. I have, however gained limited permission to continue studies on an unknown element found on the planetoid._

_[Time-stamp: 2903; 13th rotation, 14th orn]_

_/Log entry #5 concerning rogue planetoid/_

_-Entry made by Honorable Professor Menth-Thial of the Celestial Observations in Klavion-_

_My curiosity has been peaked greatly by the announcement that the Judges themselves have requested my presence. It has been told me that they plan on using a gravitational field to lure the smaller planet into a moon- like orbit around Quintessa. This will greatly increase the rate of study on the unknown elements and composition of the planet._

_[[End of logs]]_

Alchana frowned slightly at her console and checked again to make sure there were no more logs. It seemed odd that the entries would stop so abruptly. It was especially suspicious when she could find no more information about this Menth-Thial person. It was as if he never existed. Perhaps he never did, but if he had… it would mean unpleasant things for one in her position.

Her frown deepened and Alchana went on to read the next set of files.

_[Timestamp: 4307; 1st rotation, 15th orn]_

_/Chief Director of Security Krahulik's Log; Entry #7/_

_Unnamed suspect has been eliminated. Celestial Observations in Klavion will no longer be involved with studies concerning the planetoid. Precautions have been taken to preserve secrecy concerning major discoveries within said planetoid. Further incidents are unexpected._

_[[End of log]]_

Alchana found herself intrigued by this rather succinct log entry. She was definitely onto something big. Speed and delicacy were of the essence now; if someone caught her lurking around the system, sifting through files that were obviously never meant to be read... Someone else had already faced the dire results of curiosity and Alchana would be slagged if she was next.

As she continued sifting through the data bases she became increasingly agitated. Anything useful had already been efficiently combed through other than the seemingly random tidbits of information she had already found. Alchana exhaled deeply in an attempt to calm herself. She straightened her shoulders while keeping her icy eyes strained on the holo-screen, searching for something, _anything_ that might catch her attention.

As Alchana continued scanning the system for the next click or so without success, she could feel her ire towards the Judges rising. Then she noticed several inconsistencies in the file names. '_Very curious_.' She thought. The main ones were in how erratically spaced the log entries were and that seemed to have no fluid order between time-stamps.

"Tiron, come take a look at this." She called the obviously bored quintesson over from where he was supervising the lesser engineers' work. She needed a second opinion, whether or not she would heed it was another matter entirely. "Tell me, what do you make of this?"

Tiron hovered closer and leaned towards the holo-screen, meticulously scanning over her findings. She could sense the change in his demeanor as he continued reading, not a good sign if he had come to the same conclusion she had.

"It would seem that someone has wiped the database." He stated with an edge to his normally collected voice. He did not like the implications of what she was showing him. He did not like it at all. The log entries that Alchana was showing him were very obviously planted, too obviously, and yet, whoever had seeded the information had covered his tracks well enough that tracing an identity would be impossible.

"That is what I thought as well," Alchana started to back out of the database, erasing any evidence that she had been there as she went, duplicating her own copies even as she did so. "But then, how do you explain the information I did find?" she said with heavy emphasis on the word _did._ She then brought up a saved copy of the personal logs she had found and looked through the basic file codex.

They hadn't found these bits of information, that was for sure. These files had been thrown at their thrusters, ripe for the taking. More likely than not, whoever had planted the files had intended for other members of the insurgency to find them first. A clever tactic that would certainly cause a sizable disturbance throughout the main body of the rebellion. Except that Alchana had found the files first.

It was also quite possible that this Menth-Thial did not, in fact, exist. It was far more likely that he had been created entirely for the purpose of baiting them with false data. There was also the ever lurking suspicion that he had been alive, at one point, and then neatly disposed of as if he never been.

"There is only one way to explain this, Alchana. And I am certain you won't like it." He growled slightly, showing his own personal dislike of the matter.

"We are being baited..." Alchana paused, her brow furrowing in frustration.

Tiron finished her sentence gloomily, "And we have no idea who it is or what they know of us." He sighed heavily, attracting the attention of a few other scientists.

"We can't let the others know of this development... For now at least."

Tiron nodded in agreement. There would be panic if everyone knew that they were being watched. People would desert the cause and the Judges would have won. No, this was a scare tactic of some sort and they would not, could not, allow themselves to be so easily intimidated. Besides, whoever it was that was keeping tabs on them had made a fatal mistake. He had both leaked out valuable information, as small as it was, and he had alerted Alchana of his presence. Now he knew very well that that could be part of their plan, but for some reason he felt it wasn't. He hoped.

"I will try to throw off whoever is baiting us by writing a false entry in my personal log. They will be sure to find it if they are even the least bit competent." Alchana told Tiron quietly. He nodded his understanding and Alchana felt relieved that she had at least one person she could work with and not have to explain everything.

"Do not forget the possibility of an infiltrator." He warned slowly, lowering his voice to match hers.

Alchana snorted in amusement, Tiron always had a habit of 'reminding' her of the obvious. "Leave me and check on the others' progress. Nothing happened here." Tiron smirked and went to the other side of the lab where the other scientists were finishing up the rewiring.

As soon as he was gone Alchana pulled up her personal log and started a new entry.

_[Timestamp: 1158; 2nd rotation, 21st orn]_

_-Honorable Alchana-Duani, Head Robotics Scientist, Yaos Division-_

_/Private Log Entry #13/_

_I have recently made a disturbing discovery concerning my alliances within the Uprising. It would seem that we are being observed by someone of unknown origin. I have brought this information to the others of my group and they are fearful of discovery. I share their fears, but we must not stop when we have just barely begun. Hesitance will only bring about more fear and the risk of discovery, we must continue as is necessary._

_Justice to the Judges!_

_[[End of log]]_

Alchana re-read her log entry and saved it with a smug smirk on her face.

While it was true that she held onto some fear of discovery, her log was exaggerated greatly. Anyone reading it would think that the whole division was in uproar over the matter. She found that the last line would be the perfect topper to the falsified entry. No one else would know of this except the one she meant to find it. When she found out who it was then she would get rid of them in a clean and efficient matter. Then all her plans would be free to come together.

* * *

**Well, things are starting to heat up. *giggles madly* Does anyone else feel a foreboding tension in the air?**

**I want to thank all my readers/fav's/followers and reviewers for being awesome by reading and reviewing! Thanks guys! I also want to thank my sister for helping me to edit this over my shoulder as I typed. **

**Next chapter should be up in a couple days! 'Till next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

An Unexpected Occurrence

* * *

Alchana levitated down the corridor with a look of animated pleasure on her face, which was currently a toned down yellow, suggesting her ambitious persona had emerged. Despite recent and unsettling discoveries of the previous rotation, she found herself in fairer mood than she'd been in orns.

Her recent meeting with Overseer Vaix had gone quite well, as he had been extremely co-operative, even to the point of exuberantly making suggestions on certain aspects of the new prototype armoring. Of course Alchana played a vital role in stroking his ego in such a way that would make any quint willing to co-operate. She grinned at the memory of the gruff overseer and how he practically melted into her tentacles when she began lathering on the flattery. While she was not nearly as proficient in the art as say, Bithon, not to mention she found the process to be utterly distasteful, Alchana could still easily manipulate him as she saw fit.

In this case, she was making a request for extra samples of the energon crystal. She also came to ask for assistance in the designing amour for the prototype. Normally Alchana liked to do things independently, but she had since resigned herself to abandoning the idea of making the armor herself. Time was essential in the matter and she was more impatient than she was prideful, if only just.

Besides, she also hoped to acquire some more information concerning how the development of the crystal processing was progressing. As it turned out, Overseer Vaix honestly had no intel on the matter, an object of some small frustration only relieved when he graciously provided the location of where the actual study was being conducted. On top of that, he also gave her direct access to the preliminary reports, which the contents of had made her very pleased with her efforts. Although details were scarce, it was estimated that they would have a pure liquid form of the processed crystal within the orn.

Now she was returning to the lab after having received a notification on her personal data-pad that the rewiring of the original two prototypes was completed and awaiting her inspection. Alchana pushed back her outward display of satisfaction and calmly switched back to her default face. All too quickly she was reminded of the perturbing discovery she had made earlier in the rotation. There was nothing more she could do about it for the time being, and it annoyed her to no end. She definitely needed to work on her patience, because while speed was essential, rushing things could risk everything.

Alchana breathed deeply in aggravation and entered the lab. Most of the scientists that had come for the meeting had had to return to their own labs, but a few of them had chosen to remain and watch the proceedings. Now they were clustered loosely together around the two vertical berths that held the prototypes, whispering heatedly with each other as to what the results would yield.

Alchana wordlessly crossed the room and hovered in front of the original two prototypes after sparing a quick glance at the third prototype. The comparison only confirmed that her choice in starting from scratch had been well-founded.

Turning her attention back to the other scientists and focusing once more on what she was supposed to be doing, Alchana began to run experienced tentacles through the wiring. It was a hideous hack job to tell the truth, redundant wiring and backups riddled both prototype frames, but it was enough for her purposes. All she needed these outdated shells to do was test_ just_ how powerful the raw energon was. Although from what she had read from the reports Overseer Vaix gave her access to, this crystal was far more powerful than anything ever seen before. Already she had envisioned the enormous benefits this could open up for the development of her drones.

"Everything seems to be in order. Let's get this over with." Alchana turned around and grasped the small shard with a pair of non-conductive forceps, having already felt the harsh chemical burns from having had handled it physically earlier that cycle.

None of the other scientists bothered to say anything as it was a statement that elicited no proper response. A few of the lesser technicians who did the actual rewiring allowed themselves a brief feeling of satisfaction that they had not evoked a negative reaction from the head scientist. It meant that they had at least done something right.

Soon all eyes were strained onto Alchana as she carefully broke the shard into two separate chunks and handed one to Slovak, who was acting as her assistant. She had actually been planning on using Tiron, he was generally her first choice when it came to such things, but the smaller quintesson had surprised her by requesting to be the one to perform the delicate installation. As she saw it, whoever was helping her would hold no impact in the matter so she had accepted his request with no further thought.

The plan was to install the crystals simultaneously into the designated casing, then activate the start-up protocols. At that point they would begin monitoring all possible data for as long as possible until the crystals burned out. It was straightforward and simple, but it would also be the biggest leap in theoretical technology since the idea of mining drones was first conceived.

Alchana had just finished going through her mental checklist before turning to Slovak, who nodded slightly to indicate that he was in position. She couldn't read his face from behind the protective goggles he always insisted on wearing, but she nodded calmly in return before inserting the crystal. She worked quickly to hook the main wires to the sides of the chamber before moving over to inspect Slovak's work. Satisfied, Alchana then maneuvered quickly to the nearest console and entered the activation code.

Both of the prototypes activated slowly, their complex engines whirring into life without the slightest hitch. Alchana found her attention being drawn away from the data filling the holo-screen in order to look over at the prototypes. As the activation sequences finished booting up she levitated herself back to the berths where the prototypes were located. The energy output of the crystal was like nothing she had ever seen before, so pure and powerful. Even as she watched the small shards began to crumble and darken from the strain the frames demanded. Waves of heat washed over her and the prototype engines began to whine and smoke under the strain. She had yet to determine the cause of such strain when she heard the other scientists beginning to panic.

"Alchana get down! The feedback is overlo..." She didn't hear the last of the sentence before a loud explosion erupted beside her. Time seemed to slow down deceptively as the blast sent her rocketing across the room to collide painfully with one of the reinforced walls of the lab.

'_Normally,' _Alchana thought vaguely as her vision began to darken and fade, '_Normally, these kinds of accidents happen to other squids...'_

As she struggled to remain conscious she could sense movement around her and whispers echoed in ears that failed to comprehend the soft sounds. Just before her vision dimmed entirely she caught a glance at the frames of the now unrecognizable prototypes. A pair of startlingly bright white optics stared back at her. They held her gaze briefly before returning to the black and lifeless state they had been before. Alchana's vision faded quickly as she lost the battle of will versus body and promptly succumbed to the darkness.

Tiron was fairly sure that none of the other scientists had ever even witnessed a sparking wire before, much less a medium sized explosion. Chaos was not something he was wont to be dealing with at that particular moment. But, as fate would have it, Tiron was the only conscious scientist at present with his head screwed on right; leaving him to sort through the blackened shambles of the lab.

Everyone seemed to be unharmed for the most part, not that you could tell from the obnoxious moaning racket that was being made by the said scientists.

"Bithon. Slovak. Will you be so kind as to shut these fools up!" The request was phrased more as a demand due to the volume he had to use in order to be heard. The two scientists instantly snapped into attention and began organizing cleanup crews and medical assistance.

Satisfied that they would take care of the situation for now, Tiron began to pick through the rubble and quickly located the unconscious form of Alchana. She was situated behind one of the berths which had been tossed by the blast and slumped against the wall. From what he could tell she was unharmed, but that would best be determined by the medic once they got her out of the lab.

There was dust and debris everywhere, mangled clumps of wires were strewn all around the lab. Schematics and blueprints were scattered and torn, fluttering ever so slightly when he levitated past. The lights were apparently undamaged but flickered stubbornly none the less. Tiron wondered where all the dirt came from as he began to cough from the stuff entering his lungs, every part of the lab was made with reinforced metal sheets. There hadn't been any use of primitive stone mixes in buildings for nearly a three thousand vorns. Tiron fell into a coughing fit again and decided to make his way into the corridor outside the lab.

Tiron then saw the medical team rushing down the hallway and moved aside slightly to give them space. They entered the lab and quickly made some order out of the chaos. Tiron had always been impressed by a cool head and watched with interest as they calmly, but sternly, commanded the other scientists to roll Alchana onto a stretcher which when activated began to hover just high enough that the medic could easily direct its movements. He exhaled shakily and began to make his way to his personal quarters. Everything was being taken care of now and all he wanted to do was rest.

Alchana would be furious when she came to, he was sure of that. Though the explosion could have been worse, it had been bad enough that they would still have to wait a few rotations for the repairs to be completed. Until then, the lab would be useless to them. Then there was always the fact that they could have quite possibly lost all their data, the console that had been displaying it had been right next to the two prototypes when they went off. That would just please her immensely.

_Ba-dink._

_Ba-dink._

Tiron groaned from inside his quarters; someone was at his door. He felt inclined to act like a youngling and just ignore it, to close his eyes for just another breem...

_Ba-dink._

Persistent. That's was the only word he could use to describe his would be visitor, but somehow the it was satisfactory enough to convey his silent grievances.

_Ba-dink._

"Enter already!" Tiron barked and positioned himself tenderly at his personal computer terminal. The doors to his quarters swished open to reveal a timid looking Hemir.

"Good cycle, Respected Engineer P'Thian sir." He greeted softly, still hovering in the doorway. He saw the slightly darkened patches of skin where Tiron had caught the heat of the blast. "Are you well, sir?" He asked as an afterthought.

Tiron sighed, a bemused smirk growing on his face despite his best efforts. "I am well enough, thank you, all things considered."

"That is good to hear, sir. I was concerned for your well-being when I heard of the explosion." Hemir continued, his tone and expression remaining extremely formal. This awkward display of formality from the young quint amused Tiron greatly.

"It could have been worse, the blast radius was relatively small." He said noncommittally.

"Oh, okay..." Hemir trailed off hesitantly and began pulling on the tips of his tentacles, eyes downcast. He wasn't all that sure if he should proceed or how to even begin to phrase what he wanted. The older engineer seemed nice enough, but what he was about to propose would mean he would be stuck with him for a _looong_ time. He wasn't sure if he was ready to commit to something like that with a quint he barely knew.

"Is there something else you wish to address, Hemir?" There were common enough symptoms of a nervous youngling that even Tiron could recognize. Hemir obviously felt as though he had done something wrong. It was easier to see the problem than it was to solve it, Tiron soon found out. He had no prior experiences with a quint of such youth and was quite unsure of what to do next. He settled the matter within a few astroseconds.

He would simply treat the youngling the same way he would anyone else.

"Well, uh, I um..." Hemir stumbled embarrassingly over his words, "I wanted to notify you that I requested to be transferred to the science division rather than the engineering complex." He finished quickly and waited expectantly for a response.

Tiron felt somewhat surprised and relieved at the same time. Surprised one moment because he honestly was expecting something worse and relieved the next moment because he wouldn't have known how to react to something worse.

"For what reason did you make this decision?" He asked slowly.

"I desire to work under your tutelage, sir." Came Hemir's rushed response, confirming Tiron's thoughts.

"Hmm, I see." Tiron let the sentence hang as he considered what to say next. "You do realize that requirements in the science division are much higher than that of engineering."

Hemir nodded quickly, he had already gone through all the in's and out's of both divisions before making his decision. It had been a hard choice for him. He had spent most of his life studying to be an engineering professor and he was prepared for what that would require; the science division however, was like nothing he could have imagined. He would be expected know many things that he did not and learn things that he had originally wanted to avoid, but if he had Tiron as his mentor he was sure he could do it.

Besides, Tiron was originally an engineer and he had gotten along just fine in R&D sciences. So why couldn't he?

"I understand what is expected of me, sir." He said firmly. He wanted this.

"How would you react if I were to tell you the thought of mentoring you had already crossed my mind?" Hemir hovered in the doorway with a mixture of shock and delight written on his face. Tiron supposed his expression would have quite comical were mentor-ship not such a serious subject in quintesson culture. "Seeing as you have already made an effort to obtain the position, I would gratefully welcome your ambition." Tiron said calmly, a small smirk on his lips.

"I would be honored to become your ward and student, Respected Mentor Tiron sir." Hemir managed to say evenly. He still couldn't believe how easy it was, or that the engineer had already considered mentoring him, even before he had asked.

"Mentor will suffice on most occasions, however..." Tiron paused, his eyes glinting in the light, "Tiron would be preferable between just the two of us." Tiron corrected firmly, but for some reason this only caused Hemir to break into a gleeful grin.

* * *

Alchana shifted groggily and her muscles complained loudly alongside the blinding headache that had been slowly building up in pressure. She was lying on her back on an unfamiliar berth in a place that didn't know how to dim the lights. She could feel the harsh artificial light burning through her eyelids, she didn't dare pry them open; her head hurt enough already.

She easily came to the conclusion that she was in a medical ward of some sort; it would be only logical seeing as the explosion had knocked her unconscious. That and the unmistakable smell of cleaning chemicals. Her mind backtracked through the recent events, cataloging them in ways that only she could decipher. The explosion, the baited files, mysterious notes on her personal console. They all had to connect to each other; she could feel it, if only she could see just exactly _how_.

She remembered someone telling her once that she had a very gifted mind, that she could understand things that no one else would. Being much younger and naive at the time, she thought this was only meant as a pathetic encouragement for the things that she could never make sense of. In some ways she still felt like that was all it was.

_'I won't ever be a scientist like you, Rysah.' _She saw herself complain to her mentor as a youngling.

_'No Alchana, I meant what I said. You are special. You see connections that others don't, even if you forget to look at the obvious things.' She replied, softly caressing her young ward's face._

_The younger version of herself pulled away roughly, a deep scowl on her pale face. Rysah sighed softly and lowered her tentacle, her expressive brown eyes full of resignation. For such a young three facer she could already see the signs of her genetic makeup. Her ward was so brilliant, so willed, and it nearly broke her to wonder just how long those characteristics would remain intact._

_Alchana remembered almost going to her, to bask in her mentor's companionable aura, but she stubbornly held back, determined to be independent of such frivolities. She didn't want compassion._

The brief memory faded, and the small comfort that came with it dissipated quickly, leaving Alchana to continue delving into her memory. Her mentor had always been a sentimental fool, and Alchana had long outgrown the younglingish desire for her approval.

She quickly redirected her thoughts back to more recent events. The explosion was not overly unexpected, the unrefined state of the crystal being as unstable as is was. It frustrated Alchana that it had still caught her unawares, landing her in this overly bright pit. She sighed and shifted again on her increasingly uncomfortable berth. What she wouldn't give for the recliner from her quarters.

Suddenly she went stiff and her eyes snapped open when she remembered that last thing she had seen before going unconscious.

Those optics. Those pure white optics that had_ looked_ at _her_.

Alchana forced her tender muscles to relax themselves even as she told herself repeatedly that she must have been delusional. Her retina memory must have been overstimulated from the brightness of the explosion. That must be it. Slowly but surely, she drifted into the blackness of sleep with those speculations to calm her mind, her overworked body not able to stay awake any longer.

* * *

**All right guys, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. ****We get a little bit of insight into Alchana's younger vorns in this chapter while Tiron has gotten himself into a little twist. No doubt Alchana is not going to be happy when she finds out. But don't worry I have a lot planned for those two in the future!**

**Also, for those of you who fave and followed 'Cybertrons Dawn' please know that I have deleted that story. This is now the official and only version I will be working on. Thanks!**

**Please read and review! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

_A Familiarity with Suspicion_

* * *

"Ah, I see you have decided to rejoin us, Honored Professor Duani."

Alchana groaned and opened her eyes for the second time in that cycle. There was no denying she needed the rest, but she would have much rather slept in her own quarters if she was going to be forced sleep at all.

"How long?" She winced as her dry throat crackled and sat up on her berth.

"Not quite a three groons, it is currently the first joor of the second night cycle if you're wondering." Alchana looked towards to medic to take in her features. She was smaller even than Slovak and had the palest green skin she had ever seen on a quint. Her face was serene, yet had a hardness about it that told Alchana that she was efficient at her duty as a medic.

"Where am I, exactly?" She asked while scowling at everything through the blinding artificial light.

"This is the Eastern Yarxtan Medical Wing." The femme answered quickly. Alchana was about to lean forward and activate her levitation boosters when she was pushed back roughly into the berth by the medic, with a surprising amount of strength.

She scowled, "I have duties to attend to in my lab. You will let me go." She commanded with no small amount of indignity.

"You are not going anywhere until you are officially released from the medical ward." The medic said with equal amounts of command in her voice.

Alchana growled lowly at the medic. "Tell me then, when am I to be released?"

"A groon after the next day cycle starts. No more, no less." Alchana gritted her teeth together at the thought of having to remain in this unnaturally bright place any longer than necessary. Her displeasure only grew as she listened to the femme continue talking. "Your body was really weak you know. You shouldn't push yourself so hard when you're exhausted. That explosion in the lab just was too much for your body to take. That's the real reason you're still here, otherwise you could just go off doing whatever it is you were doing in your lab."

At this, Alchana decided she'd had enough of the nurse's taunting words. Without a further word she leapt off the berth harshly activating her thrusters to catch herself, and maneuvered past the medic, ignoring her protesting yells in the background. She would be dealt with later, there was no fondness for the medic, whatever the form of punishment would be. She deserved whatever reprimand she received for letting a patient escape.

Alchana only stopped moving once she heard the satisfying _swoosh _of the door closing behind her. Her paced then slowed considerably as she continued down the hall, making her way slowly, but doggedly to the lab.

Most of the repair crews had finished cleaning up the rubble and debris from the explosion, a few scorch marks lined the walls and floors while the bitter scent of singed wires and metal still lingered in the air. Alchana hovered around the room for several moments, just taking in all the small details, breathing in the distinctive smells. It wasn't very often that she felt sentimental about anything, but returning to the lab felt comforting somehow despite the gloomy state of disrepair it was currently in.

Someone, Tiron, she would have guessed offhandedly, had gathered the remains of the two prototypes and pieced them together into a haphazard resemblance to what they once were. She swept her tentacles slowly along their mangled frames as she took in the strange appearance of the damage done to their chassis. Despite being blown apart, the main damage was mainly focused in a large circular hole melted right above the energy conversion chambers. Directly where the crystals had been placed.

And yet, she remembered vaguely when reading up on the explosive properties of the energon, the damage done by the explosion did not follow the expected parameters. Normally energon had a very large blast radius and uniquely corrosive 'splattering' effect. The neatly melted, circular crater on the prototypes chassis just didn't fit the description.

"Hmm…" Alchana mumbled to herself, before attempting to salvage the data logs from the console that looked more than a little worse for wear. Perhaps something informative remained.

To her immense delight the data was for the most part intact, some of the files were a bit garbled from where the transfer was interrupted, but that wasn't anything that couldn't be fixed with relative ease. However, her good mood at finding the logs intact did not last long. True, the data recorded was supposedly accurate and for the most part complete, but it didn't follow the grounds of any science she had ever seen before.

_'There has to be an explanation... there is always a reason for the things we don't understand.' _Alchana stared determinedly at the terminal with the phrase running through her head like a mantra. She didn't even notice when the cleaning crews came to finish repairing the lab. Her eyes were focused solely on the data flowing before her.

Tiron watched with befuddled amusement as Hemir practically bounced down the corridor to the lab. As his newly instated stature of mentor he should probably attempt to restrict the youngling's enviable energy, but he found himself enjoying the display. The younger quint had seemed quite chipper when they started out, but as they progressed his levitation device began to flare up and down as his excitement grew. While finding his actions somewhat curious, Tiron hoped that the young technician would calm down before they reached the lab. He had been alerted very early that rotation by the medical wing that Alchana had left the ward without being properly discharged. It took him quite a while to calm the frantic medic down and assure her that Alchana was perfectly capable of determining her limits and would be fine.

He guessed that his aforementioned colleague had probably gone straight to the lab, but he wasn't in any hurry to meet her there. Tiron cautiously figured that she would need some time to review what had happened without any distractions, partially because he was sure the incident in the medical ward had to have irritated her to some degree and partially because he had yet to introduce her to his apprentice. Unfortunately, Hemir seemed overly eager to start his apprenticeship and so they had spent very little time lingering in the halls.

In retrospect, his decision to mentor the youngling might have been a_ tad_ hasty. Pit, in his mind he hadn't really had much of a choice at the time. Who could say no to the youngling? The decision had seemed so clear a groon ago. Perhaps he would have to pay more attention to him, as Hemir was already proving himself to be skilled in the art of manipulation, be it consciously or not.

"Hemir, I would request that you remain outside the lab for the time being." Tiron stated firmly.

The younger quintesson cocked his head and looked at him questioningly but obeyed nonetheless. "Understood, Mentor Tiron."

Tiron nodded curtly to show his approval and left him at the doorway in search for Alchana. He needed to have a few words with her about what happened in the medical ward and he was positive an audience would be unappreciated.

As Hemir watched his newly acquired mentor enter the lab he felt both annoyed and curious. It was annoying to be abandoned in the hallway with nothing to do, so that was his predominant emotion. Curiosity was just an after effect that came with the feeling of boredom.

Among the main part of his thoughts was, _'I wonder how long this will take.'_ Why he was not allowed to enter the lab was another. Perhaps it was because of that Professor, the Honorable Alchana; he had heard rumors from the other lesser scientists that she was unstable and would lash out at anyone who got in her way.

Hemir sighed heavily and leaned against the wall to wait out his thoughts. He immediately snapped back to attention when he heard a loud voice echoing down the hall. Shamelessly, he began to listen in on the conversation, the speaker not even realizing how far his voice was carried.

"So here I am, minding my own business, when _she _comes along and tells me to use another console, none too kindly, I might add." Another voice was heard to snicker slightly.

"I can imagine, considering _who _she was addressing." Silence, and then the other started chuckling with the first, evidently brushing off the comment as a friendly insult. That didn't make sense to Hemir. He didn't know of anyone, even among his closer acquaintances, who would brush off an insult like that. It was unheard of. He figured that the speaker must either be deaf or daft. He was betting on the latter.

"But when I said that I was using the console, she gives me 'the look' and locks me out of the console! I lost _two_ joors worth of work. Gone!" The voice continued complaining loudly.

"You're starting to sound like Slovak, Bithon." The second one remarked as the two quints turned the corner. Three actually, once he noticed one other following the two from a short distance. The one following from behind did not look like he appreciated the conversation at all and Bithon's lackey seemed to notice this with a jeering taunt.

"C'mon, Slovak! Aren't you gonna defend your pride? You are the best whiner in the division, after all." Slovak remained silent, although from his expression Hemir could see that he was running out of patience. Bithon just chuckled some more and he and his lackey entered the lab without the slightest glance back at Hemir. Slovak followed after them and paused at the doorway to look at him scathingly.

"Do you have a purpose for standing idly in this hall, or do you make a habit of listening in on others' conversations?" He questioned curtly. Hemir shuffled his tentacles awkwardly before responding, making sure to look the quint directly in the eyes when he spoke.

"Forgive me, sir," he addressed the quint formally, "But it did not seem like you were participating in the conversation."

Slovak's eyes narrowed sharply at the younger quint. "I do not appreciate your tone, brat." He spat out icily, his demeanor apparently much more forward when dealing with those under him than those above him in rank.

"I meant no disrespect, sir. I merely meant to point out a fact." Hemir responded in kind, his words equally cold. "And as for my reasons for standing outside, I am waiting for the Respectable Engineer Tiron, my mentor. He told me to wait outside."

Slovak huffed with airy disdain, "You would be better off on your own." Slovak muttered underneath his breath. "You might as well just go in youngling. You won't be asked inside." He said and with a slight snarl, entered the lab.

Hemir just stood outside, somewhat stunned at the short conversation. The shock then simmered down into an aggressive determination.

_'Fine then, if that's how the squids here want to play, so be it.' _He thought as he maneuvered into the lab. Youngling or not, he was going to earn his place and no one was going to deprive him of his ambitions. That was part of why he left the engineering divisions, where he had been expected to live most his life as nothing more than an assembly worker.

Inside the lab Alchana was very studiously ignoring everyone. It wasn't that hard as everyone was doing their best to ignore her as well. After Tiron had confronted her about her hasty actions in the medical ward she had been in no mood to converse with anyone. It had taken nearly five breems of heated whispers before he gave up and left her alone.

He had a way of getting under her skin that no one else had and it annoyed Alchana to no end that she couldn't just ignore him like the others. Sometimes, all she really wanted to do was immobilize him permanently by removing his levitation device and then tossing him off the rooftop. Of course, if she did that she would also lose her most competent engineer and accomplice and she couldn't have that.

Said quint was currently picking through the remaining shambles of the two prototypes caught in the explosion.

"What do you think you're doing!?" She hissed at him as she turned away from the console she had been glaring holes into.

"I am inspecting the remains of the prototypes." He answered blandly.

"I already did that." Alchana sighed as he began poking around the small crater in the chassis of the closest prototype.

"I wish to draw my own conclusions, Alchana." He stated softly without looking away from what he was doing. He paused, and then withdrew his tentacles thoughtfully. "When will the meeting be rescheduled?" He made sure his tone was not loud enough to be overheard. He knew it wasn't the best time or place to ask, but he needed to be sure he didn't miss anything. This meeting had been important; a rescheduling meant something serious was up.

Alchana looked up sharply and held his gaze for a moment. What was he thinking, bringing up such a subject without any regard for their surroundings?

"Fourth joor." She said finally without elaborating. Making a big deal of his lack of thought would only have drawn much more unneeded attention. Curse Tiron and his foolishness, Alchana would have done away with him long ago if he wasn't the only other competent quint she knew. She angrily pushed back the thought that she just might _enjoy_ his company.

"Understood." Tiron paused. He double checked his readings once more before running another scan on a different spectrum, the results were the same. Deciding that the previous conversation was best left at an end he started on a completely different subject concerning his findings. "These energy readings prior the explosions do not account for the explosion itself." He commented.

"What do you mean? Feedback was to be expected, those prototypes were merely rebuilt drones. They were not designed for such a powerful energy source as the crystal." She didn't bother looking away from the data files displayed on her holo-screen. "The explosion was entirely expected, if not properly prepared for." She added the last part as an afterthought. Tiron was silent for a few moments before he moved over to his own console, probably reading through the same logs she was. The redundant effort both exasperated and amused Alchana, it was funny some of the little things he insisted on doing.

So far nothing unusual was showing up in the files, according to them the activation sequence was flawless other than the abrupt termination of the drones. The odd dispersal of damage was still unaccounted for.

"I think you should take a look through these video logs." Tiron suddenly came up behind her with a recording from the time of the test run and plugged it into her console. He ignored her icy glower at his forward actions and set the video clip to play on her view screen.

Alchana's attention was immediately captured by the video feed playing out before her. She could see the back of her own faces as the crystal shard was placed into the prototypes' chassis and ever so gently secured into place. Slovak was located in the bottom left corner of the screen as he did the same thing, glancing cautiously over his shoulder every once in a while. She saw herself move over and inspect his work while he moved over to her prototype and brushed a tentacle inside its chassis while her past self had her back turned.

Alchana noted this and frowned deeply, her suspicions rising. The movement could have easily been attributed to a routine tension check, such as she was performing on his own wiring within the other prototype. But something wasn't quite right about the way he looked.

The activation sequence was started and the camera had the two prototypes in direct view as their engines whirred into life. Unfortunately, there was not sound in the video logs, something Alchana would be sure to mention to the repair crews. She continued watching in morbid fascination as the crystals within the prototype chassis' began to glow even brighter than before, the prototypes' frames began to quiver from the strain. Then the explosion began and smoke filled the room, making visibility even harder as the camera was damaged from the blast. Alchana strained her eyes, looking for something, evidence of anything that would prove...

Alchana halted mid-thought. What exactly was she trying to prove? Clearly Slovak had planted a miniature charge and the explosion had just escalated from there due to the naturally explosive properties of the energon. It was the perfect cover up.

Slowly the smoke began to clear and Alchana caught a glimpse of a large glowing orb of energy that seemed to fluctuate before slowly fading into nothing. Then she saw the two pinpoints of white light.

Those optics.

Alchana jerked back as the camera suddenly went offline, earning her a questioning glance from Tiron. He hadn't seen or noticed what she had. She looked right back at him unwaveringly and she watched him recoil slightly at what he no doubt saw in her normally collected persona. And she let him see it.

* * *

**Okay, so this was only a little bit of a cliffhanger, but still good right?**

**Anyways, we get to see a snarky Hemir and we discover that Slovak isn't as nondescript as we thought. I bet none of you guys really liked him anyways. Now, we just need to figure out what's going on with these 'optics' that Alchana keeps seeing are. Heh heh...**

**Please review and feel free drop a comment! It totally makes my day when I get a review and you don't want me to be sad, right? **


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

_An Unforeseen Problem_

* * *

Any quint in their right mind had a right to be perturbed by what he just saw. And Tiron felt that he had every justification. Of all the expressions or emotions he had expected from Alchana, fear was not one of them. Somewhere inside of him could understand, fear was, after all, a natural response. He just couldn't figure out what exactly it was that she was afraid of and that's what really bothered him. Betrayal was not that unexpected from the sly coward, Slovak, so he was positive that that was not the source of her fear.

Her faces were an incomprehensible mixture of emotion that he could only attempt to decipher. Fury, yes. Suspicion, understandably. Apprehension even was a possibility. But fear; cold, hard, unbridled fear? He didn't know Alchana could even express such an emotion until now and it unnerved him. Even though it only lasted an astrosecond, he had seen it and she hadn't been able to hide it.

Hadn't been able to hide it or hadn't tried?

He hadn't seen or heard much of her since they viewed to video logs together, that was nearly a joor ago by now, and if Tiron was honest with himself he would have said he was avoiding her. In fact, he was trying to keep as busy of a schedule as possible; he didn't want to stop long enough to consider the possibilities of what the video recording meant. For now he just had to keep on going, pretending everything was all right; ignoring the facts of his harsh reality.

But by now it was nearing the fourth joor of the rotation and the scientists had begun to assemble as inconspicuously as possible under the circumstances. He hadn't decided what he was going to do with his ward yet. Hemir was a bright enough quint to know when something was being hidden from him and truthfully, Tiron didn't necessarily want him involved. Especially not at this point in time, when the future of the uprising was getting far too sketchy for comfort. He snorted derisively at himself for his sentimental thoughts, he didn't seriously expect overthrowing the monarchy was going to be _easy_ did he? Still, here he was.

Tiron was distracted by a light tapping on his shoulder guard and he turned around to see his apprentice with a slightly confused look on his face. "Respected Mentor Tiron, sir, may I ask why there are an abnormal number of scientists gathered in the lab?"

Tiron frowned before turning to face his ward, "Hemir, I would request that you refrain from touching my person again. It is not fit for a quint of your position." He said sternly.

Hemir flinched a little at his mentor's harsh tone; it was the first time he had been reprimanded by him, even for something so trivial. All he wanted to know was why there were so many quints from differing departments; they didn't belong here and there was a tension in the air that he didn't like. Like something secretive was going on. Hemir had been in places he shouldn't have been often enough to be familiar with the feeling.

Tiron exhaled softly and continued, "These scientists are coming from all departments and divisions to conduct a meeting. It is an open forum of sorts to... discuss recent events concerning the prototype development." He added the last part as a sudden inspiration hit him. It was true enough, in a way.

"Oh." Hemir nodded sagely to signify his understanding. "Am I to assume that I am not welcome?" He asked innocently.

"That is correct." Tiron stated; his voice free from any inflections.

"I will proceed to excuse myself then." Hemir said solemnly, still unsure about what was going on. Something just didn't feel right. He coughed slightly when he saw the dubious look he was receiving from his mentor. "I, uh... Good cycle, Respected Mentor Tiron, sir." He would leave his strange feelings alone for the moment. If his mentor chose to keep something from him then that was his prerogative.

Tiron looked on with a bemused smirk on his face as his ward made a hasty retreat out of the lab. Hemir was bright enough all right, Tiron was sure of that, but he was still prone to act out with youngling-like tendencies. Turning his back on the doorway, Tiron made his way towards the conference room adjacent to the lab.

He found that everyone was already assembled; Alchana's patience was obviously being strained from being kept waiting. Not bothering to murmur an apology, he calmly maneuvered to his designated seat on her right side where he waited in grim silence.

Alchana had long ago perfected the art of intimidation, of how to be quietly imposing on everyone around her without them even noticing. It was one of the many talents she prided herself on. Not that she ever stooped low enough to flaunt that knowledge out in the open. Knowing for herself was good enough. Knowing the power, _feeling_ the control it gave her over lesser quints was nothing short of intoxicating.

So now, as she sat at the head of the table, reveling in the feeling, her ambitions flashed through her mind at a pace she almost could not comprehend. She had come so far in last few vorns, made many advancements and accomplished things that others would not have dared. True, she by no means founded the quintesson uprising, but she had molded it into something much more than it had ever previously hoped to be.

When she first joined, the group was nothing more than a spattering of discontented quints with no firm intentions. Over time, her ideas and goals had influenced the group and drawn in many more followers as their public influence grew steadily. Then their leader, Parth-Yulain, was apprehended and declared a traitor to the Quintesson Empire several vorns into the insurrection. Convicted of high treason and sentenced to the pit, he was never heard from again. No one ever was. After that the uprising fell into a quiet corner of most quints' minds... That is, until Alchana stood up with her ideals and persuasive views on the tyranny of the 'Five Faces of Death'.

She allowed herself a smug smirk at the memory; no one had wanted to take her seriously. The few remaining would-be usurpers had mocked and ridiculed her relative youth and her visions of a future without the monarchy.

It had taken time, longer than anything she had ever waited for, but it had been worth it. Her cunning words and silver-tongued promises had eventually won over the collection of quints still hopeful to overthrow the judges. And now she had the loyalty and services of nearly four dozen quintessons at her disposal. Trust was irrelevant to the cause.

Alchana looked up from her thoughts and dragged her eyes around the room, taking in the various reactions of the quints assembled. She quickly changed back to her default persona, not having realized that her ambitious face had taken position, and pushed her previous feelings aside to allow her to focus more clearly. Her eyes flicked upwards to reveal a less-than-apologetic and more-than-a-breem-late Tiron sitting blithely on her right. Alchana felt her irritation rise as he looked towards her calmly and she fought to stamp it down when he gave her a curt nod of acknowledgement.

Alchana frowned and activated her levitation device to hover at the end of the table. "Greetings respectable and acknowledged scientists of the Empire," Her voice carried through the room, loud and firm, but not so much as to be heard from outside chambers. "I will assume you all know why you are here and we must remember, vigilance keeps us safe from those who would seek to..."

She never got to finish the sentence for at that moment a tall single-faced quintesson floated through the door, silencing whatever she was going to say. As far as she knew, everyone was accounted for and she did not recognize his face. A tingle of apprehension ran down her spine.

The regal looking quint entered the room as if he had every right to be there and made no attempt to hide it. "Am I interrupting something, Honored Professor Alchana-Duani?" His inquiry was anything but innocent. He continued without waiting for her response, "I am High Inquisitor Krahulik. I have been assigned to evaluate your progress concerning the self-aware drone prototypes."

Alchana eyed him warily, carefully evaluating her response to his arrogant claims. She disliked his tone immensely. "Might I ask why was I not informed of this prior to your arrival?" She demanded through gritted teeth.

"Oh, but you were informed. I suggest you look at your compad." He replied smoothly. He was not concerned with her less-than-welcoming responses; she would soon have no choice but to allow him into the meeting.

Alchana scowled and turned on her pad and it pinged softly with a message stating this 'Krahulik's' assignment. Her eyes widened marginally as she read the short message, her anger growing with every click.

"This message was sent not even a _click_ ago." She finally ground out slowly.

"That is not my concern." He responded dismissively. "I assume you were already assembled for a meeting; may I ask what the topic is?"

Alchana felt her patience waning once more at the inquisitor's uptight and arrogant personality, and the situation was getting out of control. The other scientists radiated fear, the way they shuffled their tentacles and shared small glances with each other as if to say _'we're so slagged'_. Alchana found herself thankful for small mercies when Tiron answered for her.

"This meeting is an informal occasion," he stated calmly, "We are merely gathered to discuss updates and ideas concerning prototype development." He looked to Alchana and she nodded slowly, still trying to work out a solution to the situation. It was as if he had the answer already planned out, not realizing that he had just finished telling his apprentice, whom she as of yet had no knowledge of, the same thing. Then she suddenly broke into an almost feral grin.

"Perhaps then you would like to stay and observe the meeting, High Inquisitor? You would be most welcome if you are indeed assigned to observe the prototype development." She asked with a false air of innocence, guiltless in attempting to bring him out of his comfort zone.

To his unfortunate credit the Inquisitor took up her offer in stride. "That would be most acceptable." He said with a small flourish as he carefully lowered himself into a chair at the opposite end of the table, never once losing eye contact with Alchana. Her lips smoothed into a flat line as her displeasure leeched through her body like a blast of hot air.

"Very well then." Alchana started icily. "Does anyone remember where we left off?" She queried in general but her gaze was steadily boring into Tiron. Since they hadn't really left off on anything, having not even truly started, Alchana figured he would be a good quint to broach a topic with. At this point, all original intents and purposes of the meeting were void, so now she would have to suffer through several groons worth of useless rambling on a subject she already knew every detail of.

Addressing Slovak's unsuspected, but also inevitable in afterthought, betrayal and sabotage would have to be put off for the moment.

She smiled grimly at the prospect and slowly leaned back into her chair to get comfortable. Her back still ached terribly. She supposed it could be entertaining, she thought with the slightest feeling of amusement. Listening to her lesser scientists' vague interpretations of her exceedingly complex designs and schematics would be _interesting,_ to say the least.

Tiron cursed mentally to himself as he visibly floundered at what to say. Of course Alchana would not-so-subtly direct the entire conversation onto his shoulders; he was only the closest thing she had to an adviser after all. He was even deprived the opportunity to berate his increasingly pessimistic thoughts, not to mention sarcastic attitude. If he didn't say something quick, then most likely he'd wind up the center of a lot of unwanted attention. He didn't work well under pressure.

"Yes, um... As I was going to say before we were _so kindly_ interrupted," He coughed and gave the Inquisitor a look that respectfully said '_Slag you_' to his rank. It was not necessary, but he if he was to be faithful to playing the part assigned to him by Alchana, he might as well enjoy it. Albeit grudgingly and not without complaint. "You all have been given the specifications of a default mining drone. Any input or suggestions towards improving functionality may now be freely discussed." For better or for worse, the schematics of the prototype were kept in semi-secrecy for purposes he could only guess. However, with the arrival of the Inquisitor he would be thankful that this was the case.

A short silence ensued, leaving whoever the poor quint was to speak next feeling very exposed. He almost felt sorry for whoever it would be. Tiron harrumphed irritably at the look of displeasure Alchana gave him and returned it with a glower of his own. Not nearly as effective as hers was, he noted somewhere in the back of his mind. It was an awkward situation in its entirety, how else did she expect him to handle it?

_'Just who was this Krahulik anyways?'_, he wondered; the name was almost familiar... like something too briefly noticed to be remembered. Perhaps the inquisitor warranted some more research, particularly since he was involving himself with the prototype development. Tiron was so lost in his thoughts he almost neglected the conversation around him, someone having started saying something.

"Increasing tactile sensory input might be worth investigation. As it is now, a drone wouldn't notice if a boulder fell on its head." Of course, leave it to his idiot brother to say something next, Tiron thought in annoyance. Let him make a fool of himself. "By doing so, we could greatly reduce the number of repairs needed since the drones would have a reason to avoid damage."

"This is absurd! What you're implying is to build delicate enough sensory interfaces that would allow a _drone_ to feel _pain_?" A chorus of murmurs and arguments drifted through the scientists, Tiron couldn't identify the quint that made the comment. Whispers began floating around the room many of them questioning the viability of the project in its entirety; others felt the need to redefine the term _'sentience_'. He could see the Inquisitor listening intently with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

Alchana was also listening carefully. He noted with growing dread the sly smirk on her face that told him that she had already implemented such a design. He sighed grimly at the thought of what else, however minor, that she might have had added to the prototype's design without informing him.

"I have made an intriguing discovery concerning the mining operations of the planetoid." An unfamiliar quintesson levitated himself higher to gain better amplitude. The room had gone quiet and Tiron noted that even Alchana seemed highly interested. "Evidently there is a theory going around the Metallurgical Lab that seems to indicate some sort of energy pulse from within the planet. Speculation suggests a..." The scientist didn't get a chance to finish.

"Enough!" Tiron jerked his attention to the Inquisitor, who was casting a disapproving eye over the contents of the room. "This meeting is over. I have other things that require my attention rather than listen to your scientists ramble over speculation and theory."

"You do not have that authority!" Alchana had bolted upright at the interruption to protest shrilly. So far the meeting had barely lasted a groon and she would not have it end just when something interesting was starting to be discussed.

"I have every authority." He replied slowly, "I work directly under the Judges and I was assigned here to report everything that happens in this lab to them."

Alchana face switched seemingly of its own accord, "We will see about that,_ Inquisitor_." Her now ember colored eyes sharpened with a deadly glint.

Tiron paled slightly, what was she thinking, threatening the Inquisitor? Even if he wasn't already on to them, he could shut them down in a matter of cycles if he chose to.

Krahulik smirked wryly, his eyes glittering ominously, "You would do well to control your temper, my dear Professor. The Judges are watching." He said darkly and smiled eerily at the lesser scientists who promptly avoided his gaze at all costs. He scanned through the contents of the room one last time before exiting swiftly, leaving Alchana to fume.

* * *

**Well, well, well. I am very much liking how the Inquisitor turned out in this chapter. Bad guys are _so_ fun to write! Anyone remember his brief mentioning in chapter four?**

**Also please note that Inquisitor Krahulik _is_ indeed a canon character, as will several other quints introduced in future chapters. Please look him up on the tfwiki.**

**Reviews are awesome, people! :`3**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

_To be Above Suspicion_

* * *

Alchana watched silently as the scientists warily began to disperse as quickly as they dared. No one wanted to be within a hic of her gaze, her barely contained rage was so greatly kindled at that moment. Alchana could not believe how much she wanted to send that squid to the deepest corner of the pit. High Inquisitor indeed, no matter what his rank she would find a way to be rid of him. Her face twitched visibly under the thin veil of restraint she had placed on herself while the other scientists still remained.

"How dare he! _How. Dare. He!_" She spat the words vehemently. He had no right, no say in the matter, in her matter. She fired up her thrusters violently and began pacing the length of the table. Only then did she notice Tiron where he levitated quietly at the end of the room.

He was currently lost in his own overwhelming thoughts. The meeting had ended in a near catastrophe, at least, as near to one as a civilized meeting could get without something drastic. His meandering thoughts were rudely interrupted by a flying datapad whizzing past his head. Here was the drastic he had been waiting for.

"Why are you still here?! _Leave me!_" She picked up a datapad and launched it across the room where it clattered loudly on the wall behind him, missing his head only by a fraction.

"No. I am staying." He stated firmly to her anger. He would stay until she could control herself better and only then would he leave her alone. It was the wrong thing to do, judging by his colleague's enraged response.

"I said. Leave Me! Leave me like the others do!" Alchana roared and her pacing stopped so that she could look him in the eyes, her face contorted with anger and frustration, daring him to do anything else. She could see him flinch even as he tried to hide it.

"I do not fear you, Duani." He said softly as he slowly met her gaze. Alchana blinked rapidly and began to pace again. Her faces swapped abruptly, "You lie." She said coldly.

"No," Tiron was silent as he momentarily contemplated his next response. "I understand you, and I know when to avoid you-"

"Then avoid me now!" She hissed in the middle of his sentence.

"-But that does not mean I fear you." Tiron finished smoothly, not paying any heed to her interruption. She needed this, evidently much more than he could ever realize.

Alchana lurched back dumbfoundedly as it suddenly dawned on her that he was being genuine. She had no idea how to deal with this revelation. For a moment, her anger was assuaged while her mind struggled to comprehend what he was implying. Alchana turned her back on Tiron so that she could think more clearly; she couldn't trust her faces to hide her emotions anymore.

Her anger rekindled as quickly as it had left her, she wasn't supposed to have feelings. They were nothing more than soft, malleable emotions that gave others control over her mind. She was a scientist, the leader of an insurrection for pit's sake! Why, after all this time was she losing control of herself? Paranoia crept through her mind like a scalpel.

It wasn't that uncommon for a three-faced quintesson to slowly grow insane under extreme stress. It was a genetic property.

A defect.

Originally there had only been five faced quintessons and single facers; thirds such as herself were the result of crossbreeding inside the maturation tanks. Even today in established culture three-facers were considered outcasts, despite the fact that many of the most brilliant scientists of their race had been thirds. She did not want to recall the facts stating that almost every single one of them became delusional before they ever reached their later vorns.

"Alchana." Tiron began softly, interrupting her troubled thoughts.

"What?" She snapped from over her shoulder. Even if he did not fear her like the others, he was still pushing her already shattered limits. She needed time alone to process and analyze, to regain control of her mind and thoughts.

"Should we not be more concerned about this Inquisitor, Krahulik?" He spoke cautiously, his words phrased carefully as if he were still deep in thought, pondering the situation as it played out again in his memory. He needed to be gentle with her now that she seemed calmer, lest he accidentally set her off again. "His presence is unnerving. I believe he knows more than he lets on, and I am wary of his intentions," He paused, a thoughtful tentacle propped underneath his chin, "Both his and the Judges behind him."

"I am very much aware of the situation, thank you very much." She snarled. "My attention is more focused on what he knows more than it is on his or the Judges' personal vendetta."

Tiron hovered thoughtfully then he reached down to pick up the datapad that she had thrown at him. "I think..." He paused as he turned on the pad and his brow furrowed deeply at whatever he was reading. "I think that whatever that scientist was trying to tell us was important. This datapad belonged to him."

He handed Alchana the pad before she could even demand for him to hand it over. Her lips pursed in annoyance as she swiped it roughly from his tentacles. She shot him a swift glare and turned her focus onto the text displayed on the screen. The entry was not labeled and had no time-stamp she noted carefully, along with a crack that dimmed the corner of screen from where she had thrown the pad previously.

_/The epsilon class rogue planetoid has been declared a level seven research priority.  
Thorough metallurgical and bio-lab analyses are required. All members under both departments are sworn to secrecy under the one-hundred and sixty-fifth jurisdiction of oaths. Any information pertaining to the planetoid's composition is to be reported directly to the Judges via the High Inquisitor. All previously attained information is included in this notice. /_

Alchana continued to read through the data with growing dread. The research contained in this datapad was immense, nearly two vorns worth of reports, probe logs, and data sequences. All of it was directly related to the planetoid.

"I need to transfer this data to a private console immediately." Tiron nodded solemnly and followed her out of the conference room where she plugged the pad into the nearest data port available. Alchana ignored the tense feeling in her gut as she worked, knowing that they would probably never see that particular scientist again. Not if her suspicions about the Inquisitor proved correct, and so far she had no reason to doubt them.

* * *

A fresh wave of terror washed over a certain scientist at his workstation. His entire being trembled in fear of being called in for treason. There was no way that his actions could have been missed. Not with that inquisitor right there, blatantly interrupting him as he spoke. It was only a matter of time now.

The scientist looked over his shoulder and then back to his console where he nervously began a sediment analysis from a sample taken from deep within the core of the planetoid. The scans came back clean with the exception of an abnormally high metallic composition. Even the dirt on the surface wasn't dirt; it was composed of metalloid substances in varying stages of weathering. The scientist turned around and picked up another sample to repeat the process on.

He flinched visibly as another scientist entered his work space and gave him an odd look. His twitchiness only increased by tenfold when two quintesson guards came into the lab. Evidently he wasn't even worth the presence of the High Inquisitor himself, he thought dejectedly despite his impending sentence.

The only thing he could think of was if it was worth it as the guards came from behind him and began dragging him away without a word of explanation. There was no point in fighting the inevitable; at this point struggling would only make things worse for him. If that was even possible since he was already in deep slag.

He only hoped it was worth it. There was so little in the empire to hope for anymore.

* * *

The calm facade employed by the High Inquisitor was unnerving, to say the least. Krahulik had a well-earned reputation of mercilessly sentencing quints to their deaths without a second thought. There was no doubt that this quint believed every rumor, no doubt at all. It wasn't something he was proud of and it wasn't something he regretted. There was simply no emotion, no conviction; just a cold sneer and maybe a toneless remark that cut into a person like a scythe.

Krahulik wasn't one to dwell in his thoughts or ponder sentimental emotions; they were all irrelevant in the end. No... His place was to dictate and direct the weak, manipulate those who went awry and to remove those who got in the way. _That_ was his purpose, his entire being and it was the way of the Judges. Many would consider them unjust, evil and corrupt in their many eons of ruling when in fact, their grim justice was the only thing holding the Quintesson Empire together. A good example would be the metallurgical scientist he had disposed of not even a groon earlier.

A weak hand would never last as long where an iron grip would suffice. Such was the way of the Empire.

So now he stood in his grand little office arrayed with regal color and adornment, with a skittish quint who supposedly was one of the 'faithful' as they had so accurately labeled themselves. Evidently, he had a certain footing within the ranks of the growing conspiracy towards the leadership of the Judges. As the High Inquisitor it was his duty to make something out of his position.

"I understand that you have infiltrated the rebel movement known as the Insurrection." He stated blandly, not even looking up from the personnel file he was reading. The quint in question wasn't much of anything really. A mid-ranking scientist specializing in AI programming, no deviations from the usual on his records; on first glance Krahulik would have sent him away as waste of his time.

"Y-yes High Inquisitor Krahulik. They currently do not suspect me." The quint was clearly out of his comfort zone.

"Why should you require my attention?" He questioned, his tone taciturn and to the point. He was not going to afford any dithering, not now, not ever. "You are nothing to me; you have no mentionable achievements, no status of influence. Give me one reason why I should allow myself to be distracted by your presence any longer than necessary."

The continued antagonism seemed to provoke the pale quint slightly and he waited with a small amount of impatience as the quint struggled to find an appropriate response. "I am responsible for the explosion in lab QR-114." He sputtered, his dignity seeming to fail him as he tried, and failed, to make himself seem significant.

"And this concerns me how?" The explosion was minor and not unexpected under the circumstances. In his opinion the event had no significance other than to cause an additional 7.883% delay in the prototype development. The Judges had instructed him to keep a close eye on their progress and limit their access to information concerning the planetoid. A small precaution as the Honorable Professor Alchana had a knack for digging into things that did not concern her.

"I have information, names, and schematics." The scientist paused as if checking to make sure no one else was in the room. "I know you already suspect Professor Duani and I can confirm that. I am also willing to cause more... _delays_ in her plans."

"What makes you think the Judges don't already know? Anything you tell me I will have already heard of and planned for. You would do well to remember that they observe _everything_." Krahulik watched impassively as the quintesson before him shuddered reflexively at the thought.

Little did he know.

"If and when you are needed I will contact you. Send me your current findings via data burst. You may leave." He dismissed the quint without a further thought.

The quint hesitated and moistened his lips, "Forgive me, High Inquisitor..." He trailed off slightly before phrasing his question. "What will happen to the quint from earlier this joor?"

Krahulik's lips pressed firmly together before he addressed the quint directly. It was a perfectly valid question, but it also implied that he knew something of what the Judges were so carefully trying to keep hidden. Perhaps this quint would warrant some interest after all.

"He... has already been dealt with appropriately. I am sure you can understand." He added the last part with an almost sadistic glint in his eyes as he spoke. The now even paler quint before him quickly looked away, his tentacles now trembling slightly.

"I-I understand. Good cycle, High Inquisitor Krahulik."

"Good cycle, Scientist Slovak-Anur. We_ will_ meet again." The poor quint swallowed nervously and made a hasty exit. He had to wonder just what he had gotten himself into.

* * *

Tiron was beginning to feel the strain on his neck as he peered at Alchana's holo-screen from his position at his console. After reading over her shoulder for over two joors in a row in and among his own functions as a scientist he considered himself unfit for social interaction. He had a crick in his neck and his eyes burned from the strenuous use they had been put up to for so long. Not to mention it was nearing the end of the first night cycle and he hadn't eaten anything in six joors.

In short, Tiron was tired, hungry, and irritable.

All the other scientists had left a long time ago, not bothering to stick around after the work cycle. Bithon had lingered longer than most but left quickly after being snapped at by Tiron. Normally Tiron was never one to show his temper, as he had to deal with Alchana's often enough. However, he could only take so much punishment, despite the popular opinion of him being Alchana's peacemaker.

As it was, Alchana had made considerable progress in reading through the data taken from the yet-to-be-identified scientist from the metallurgical labs. So far she showed no signs of stopping for the night-cycle, her focus completely tuned to her console and the files she was decrypting. Whoever it was that previously owned the datapad took no chances of someone else finding the data by implementing a surprisingly detailed encryption sequence that was keyed so that only Alchana could decode it.

The amount of information he had been able to glean off her console was nothing compared to the total mass of data contained, but it was enough that he could get the gist of things. Still, what he had learned so far was extremely intriguing. There was a great amount of concern though on how their project would be affected.

"What the..." Alchana began rapidly typing at her console. "No, no, no, _no_... Don't you _dare_ do this to me!" Tiron removed himself from his console and approached Alchana cautiously.

"What happened?" He voiced his curiosity in a rather disinterested tone.

"Some pit spawned squid planted a virus in one of the data packets." She was levitating agitatedly now, her tentacles moving furiously across the console. The virus had come out of nowhere and she was certain that it had been planted within the last breem or so. Tiron went to say something but she interrupted him before he could even start.

"Silence! I must focus." She snapped at him briefly before returning her full attention to weeding out the virus.

The trojan was a fairly destructive little fragger and the virus ran true to its title, quickly destroying every trace of information. If he had been in a better mood he might have appreciated the pun. He pulled away from Alchana as she let out a feral roar alongside a string of very descriptive expletives describing what she would do to whoever planted the virus. Tiron was somewhat impressed; having endured many such 'lessons' in vocabulary from his less-than-professional brother.

"I suppose I can safely assume the data was irrecoverable?" Tiron interrupted her ranting with the slightest tinge of sarcasm in his voice.

"_Obviously_ you weren't paying enough attention if you still have to assume!" She responded in kind, her frustration at its peak. She did not appreciate his tone. Well, she had a surprise coming because Tiron wasn't going to take it.

"Actually, you're lucky I _was_ paying attention," Alchana glared daggers at him and one of her eye ridges was cocked dangerously. "Because while you were busy decrypting the files, _I_ was in the process of duplicating them onto a backup drive." He stated smugly.

"Oh _really _now, I'm impressed." Alchana's voice was dripping in sarcasm and she continued speaking over the top of Tiron's now confused expression. "Did you ever stop to think that you may have duplicated the _virus_ as well? I'll take that as a 'no'." She said after a brief moment of silence.

Tiron opened his mouth several times to say something but couldn't seem to find the words. He didn't want to respond if he couldn't think of a good retort... _and_ she had made a good point. So instead he settled for a scathing glower pointed in Alchana's direction as his previous attitude deflated rather quickly.

Her behavior was puzzling to him, like something was missing from an equation. He had thoroughly expected a more..._ explosive_ reaction from her; this calmness about her was _not_ normal. Tiron's brow rumpled in thought and he couldn't help but notice Alchana's amused expression. Apparently she was enjoying his lack of self-restraint, he thought irritably. Maybe it was just him. Pit, he was tired after this cycle's events.

"What?!" He finally snapped after her watching him for several clicks.

"Calm yourself. I'm merely thinking." She said not looking up, just staring through him into space. There were so many new variables to be considered. At first she hadn't been sure if their systems were being watched, but now she was thoroughly convinced. And not at all pleased.

Her tone was like a slap upside the head to Tiron, the way she spat out the very words he normally spoke to her when she was on the deep end. It irked him more than he realized and he stubbornly forced his raging exhaustion into submission.

Tiron found himself suddenly on edge when she spoke next.

"We will continue to work on the prototypes on the new rotation. Commit what you know of the planetoid to memory, but tell no one of your knowledge. Whatever happens next relies heavily on our ability to feign ignorance."

* * *

**Oooo, drama! And I know I said this before, but writing bad guys is awesome!**

**So we have loads of character interaction/development for Tiron and Krahulik and Alchana in this chapter. Whee!  
Poor Tiron just wants to to to bed. :( I love how sassy he gets when he's tired though!**

**Please review! I will give out unprocessed energon treats if you do!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

_Through Living Eyes_

* * *

Alchana had surprised even herself with how calm her actions were and... It felt good.

The strain of the past few orns had built up inside her system lately and she could feel herself slowly cracking under the pressure. But after willingly entering her quarters last cycle and actually relaxing enough to sleep, she found herself pondering the earlier rotation's events with a fresher outlook on things.

It felt good to be able to hold herself together, true, to be able to command her thoughts and stay in control of herself. However there was a lurking suspicion, a gut feeling, that perhaps this frame of mind was just what used to be considered normal.

She could only hope it would last.

A small frown appeared on Alchana's composed blue face as she began to re-analyze the facts in her head as only she could. Hope was for fools. She was the one in control here, nothing, and _no one_ else.

First, someone had placed information to bait them when she hacked into the database, but that could always be overruled as a coincidence. Then the original two prototypes blew up, only for a video log to suggest the explosion was not necessarily an accident and point to Slovak as the perpetrator. Not so easily could she skip over the act of sabotage though, as she had yet to deal with the perpetrator. The arrival of the High Inquisitor Krahulik served to both goad Alchana and to intimidate the main front of the insurrection. She would put more thought into how the Inquisitor had just 'showed up' during their gathering later.

These happenings all occurring within cycles of each other, was another disturbing factor. The tip of the tower, so to speak, was the datapad retrieved from the now absent metallurgist. It was an unfortunate fact that she would likely never see the quint again.

Not that it mattered; she had the information she needed. The consequences of delivery were not her problem.

Although all the data was lost or corrupted beyond recovery, the virus could not un-see what she had already read. It was a good thing Alchana had always made a habit to open the data files backwards, otherwise the first file she opened would have released the virus. In doing so she had been able to read through most, if not all, the vital aspects of the planetoid blandly dubbed a _cyber metalloid energy based life form._

Alchana found this to be somewhat annoying in her mind as such a title was pointlessly extravagant. The planet's code name, Cyber-TRON, was much easier to refer to. Unfortunately that wasn't entirely appealing to her either as the scientists who labeled the planet seemed to take pleasure in forming random acronyms that had no real purpose other than to annoy those trying to remember them, this one's translation being 'Cybernetic and Trans-organically Reconfigured, Original Neo-Planet'.

'_Cybertron indeed'_, she thought with contempt.

Alchana shook herself slightly to avoid wandering into a topic that she could no doubt spend a groon getting frustrated over. '_Focus on the big picture, obscurities are just that... obscure.'_ She told herself repeatedly and finished consuming her morning nutrients. Then she proceeded to leave her quarters, making her way to the lab. This cycle would be unofficial; she had determined that even before the other events had even occurred. A repeat of the _accidental_ explosion would not be welcomed.

Gripping her tentacles tightly in anticipation, Alchana entered the lab. This cycle would be the first successful activation of the new drone prototype A-003. This cycle would be the first leap into a new age.

The only other scientist she would allow the presence of was Tiron. He was the only quint she could trust and depend on if something were to go wrong. Not that she would ever admit it to anyone, although Tiron could very well know this already considering his observant nature. Besides, nothing would go wrong this time. She could feel it.

Inside the lab everything was just as she had left it. It was a standard of hers that was unquestionably the most enforced. The stuff in her lab was _hers_, no matter who else happened to work under the same roof.

No one else was about and the lab was pleasingly empty. She had planned it this way as it was the first rotation of the orn; a free day when all citadel-living quintessons were required to pay their obligated levies to the Judges, essentially an off day. She made it a point not to pay these fines, however no one would ever know this because she had rigged a program to enter a faked deposit every orn.

Alchana snorted derisively just as the door to the lab opened with its familiar swooshing noise. "Good cycle, Honorable Scientist Alchana-Duani." Tiron greeted formally.

"The same in return, Respected Engineer Tiron P'Thian." Alchana returned the greeting, although she was somewhat confused by the formalized traditional greeting.

Normally Tiron, although still reserved, gave her the simple greeting used among colleagues. The greeting he used just now was generally used in conferences or when being addressed by someone of a higher status. This cycle however he decided that it would be best to retain formalities to avoid setting either of them off.

Alchana shrugged off the occurrence, Tiron was known to go through occasional phases where he would tend to cut himself off from other quints. "I suggest we begin our work right away."

Tiron nodded curtly, "Agreed." He felt no need to expand on his thoughts. Alchana eyed him warily and he was quick to add, "Everything is prepared and waiting."

It didn't help much to abate Alchana's suspicions, but at least she was leaving him alone for the moment.

"I will need you to monitor the activation sequences from that console. I want to be able to monitor the prototype's frame physically as the sequence begins." She moved over to the prototype and began making some last-minute calibrations. She was surprised that he had nothing to say about the arrangement as he was the engineer and her specialty was programming.

"Alchana... Are you sure we are doing the right thing?" Tiron asked cautiously and she when paused to look at him, a curious expression adorning her primary face, his gaze held hers steadily. "What I mean to say is, while I do not doubt that the Judges must be removed..." He floundered a little over his words in a vain attempt to make his point without incriminating himself.

Alchana sighed heavily in annoyance and went back to the tangled wiring in the prototype's rotary cuff. "Spit it out already. You are wasting precious time that cannot be afforded." She said finally. Her words were sharp and to the point, not allowing any inflection to betray her.

"I do not like being kept in the dark, Duani." He said bluntly and gestured to the prototype her tentacles were embedded in. "I have not been well-informed of your designs and with the recent data procured concerning the planetoid; I am concerned by the idea of just _how_ sentient you intend it to be."

Alchana swallowed slowly and not out of nervousness. She should have realized he would be suspicious. That was the problem with having him as her second. He was as equally intelligent as she was -she would never allow herself to work with an ignorant squid, the idea in itself was appalling- but it also meant that she had a harder time keeping things to herself.

"You are correct; I have withheld vital information from you." A grimace darkened her face briefly at the admission, her pride anything but happy. Her previous good mood was slipping away rapidly. Alchana grabbed a datapad and punched in her personal twelve-digit access code before handing it to Tiron with a flick of her tentacles. "This is a complete list of any and all modifications I have designed and/or implemented. You will notice that precautions have been made accordingly."

She watched him begin to slowly read through the schematics and design notes, his eyes betraying his astonishment as he took in the information. She smirked slightly, knowing from memory each and every one of the adjustment she had made.

"Nanite based self-repair systems, submissive pressure points, neural nets, advanced logic cores... _an emotional processor?!_ Alchana, you cannot be serious!" He looked up at her incredulously from where he had read aloud. The datapad was very thorough and listed everything in a neatly arranged manner; from point to point with notes on where it all came together. In truth, it was a work of art in and of itself.

While many of the changes listed on the pad were logical additions, a large number of them were absurdly complicated. The emotional processor being one of them and the pressure points a subsequent 'precaution'. Nanites were another such addition he was wary of. Now, he had nothing against nanites as they were used in the previous models of the drones for basic system upkeep; but the nanites were still an iffy area of technology and Alchana had programmed them to do a lot more than they were designed for. He just couldn't see why so much of her designs were necessary for a drone. All it had to do was follow orders.

"When you first came to me with this idea, this..." He waved the pad in the air to emphasize his point, "_This... _is NOT what you proposed. When you said 'sentient' you applied the word as a stopgap; what you have here is the makings of a-_a living being_!"

"While it is true I may have... deviated from my original designs, I still believe that this will give us what we need to overbalance the centre of power. Perhaps even more." Alchana responded through clenched teeth, her voice dangerously steady as she fought the urge to swap faces to better defend her work. Tiron must have sensed her growing agitation and withdrew into himself, but his discontent was still painfully clear.

He spent several more moments reading the datapad before maneuvering over to the prototype to personally identify certain aspects of its structure. Now that he could see the components he had previously considered redundant, the design of the prototype made much more sense. A part of him was most certainly against this, the part of him that used to be... _before_, but another part of his was in awe. It was beautiful in a way, how everything fit together in the frame of the prototype, yet it sickened him on some subconscious level. Did they have the right to create _life_ merely for their own purposes?

Alchana felt a surge of annoyance when he began to pick around the prototype's internals but pushed it aside roughly, knowing that it was a necessary thing for him as an engineer. Had she been in his place she would have done the same thing, if not more thoroughly.

"And do I, pray tell, have your approval?" Alchana finally asked; her eye ridge cocked in an expression of exasperated tolerance.

"I hardly think my assessment of the prototype will change your mind." He responded matter-of-factly and Alchana could not deny how accurate his assumption was. "However, if you are so keen to hear my evaluation then I will gladly tell you that I cannot find anything out of place." His face darkened in thought, "That does not mean I have to like it."

"Your approval is noted, shall we continue then?" Alchana could have almost laughed at the instantaneous scowl that showed up on his face, because he had not in fact expressed any approval whatsoever. As it was, she could not contain the grin that came to her face which she struggled quickly to replace with a mask of professionalism. Now was not the time to allow petty emotion to cloud her mind.

Tiron gave her a curt nod and moved over stiffly to work at the console connected to the prototype. "I have the pre-programming ready to transfer."

"Understood. Starting manual activation." She said and began to access the back of the prototype's cranial unit.

She had designed a different approach to 'turning on' prototype A-003 on a whim. Using this approach, she would be able to activate the prototype's shell to make sure all systems were functional before actually uploading its programming and basic functions. It was a more efficient, if not time-consuming procedure. _'It's better than blowing up.' _She told herself wryly.

The prototype's engines whirred slowly, its systems booting up effortlessly. All it took was a flip of a switch from her tentacles. The power and control over the motion was immensely satisfying in a way.

"Energy readings are holding steady." Alchana stated as she ran a scanner over the prototype's chassis. "There are some ambiguous fluctuations in the crystal energy conversion chamber, but they are relatively minor. Proceed with the upload."

"Basic functions have uploaded successfully." Tiron said duly, his response in time with the subtle clicks coming from the prototype's frame as it processed the basic functions. Alchana noted with no small amount of pleasure that this time everything was perfect. No interruptions, and no complications or delays that she could foresee.

"Begin uploading 'sentience' packages beta 3, 4, and 5." Some of Alchana's exuberance leaked through the command, much to her chagrin. She felt no desire to stamp it down though, this was her project, conducted in her lab and the only person accompanying her was accustomed to her mood swings.

"Upload complete, all processor functions are nominal." He stated; his mind still elsewhere, speculating what could be considered trivial but to him held great importance. The air didn't feel right to him. Something was going to happen and it would be out of his control.

Alchana noted that these had taken longer to transfer than the other files, but that was to be expected. These files were much larger than the others, containing just over twenty gigaquads of data. And that was before the prototype even started basic systems initialization. Once online, the prototype would be expected to add data continuously to his programming, adapting to its orders and surroundings. It could, _would_ learn in a sense of the word.

"Now commencing activation of logic and emotional cortex's." She stated calmly.

Alchana ran the scanner over the prototype once more before moving towards its head to connect the two cranial modules to the prototype's internal power relays. Perhaps for convenience she should have built a smaller model, she thought. Despite all the other adjustments, she hadn't bothered at the time because it was easier to follow the basic structure of a mining drone which had to be large enough to support the heavy loads required of them. At least that aspect of the technology was fairly adept; mining drones had been in use for decavorns before she had matured and the planetoid grappled into Quintessa's orbit.

Alchana levitated backwards suddenly, dropping the scanner that she was holding and it clattered loudly on the floor. She did not even notice Tiron hovering by her side in her shock. Had she still been holding the scanner she would have noticed that the abnormal fluctuations from before had increased by tenfold.

A-003 had opened its eyes, the prototype's optics emitting a faintly pulsing white light. The same optics that she had seen in the explosion three rotations ago; the same optics that had looked at her with an intelligence she could no longer deny.

Alchana and Tiron both were unable to look away as the light grew exponentially, its blinding light accompanied by a loud hum of energy that crackled over the chassis of the prototype. Paralyzed with a terror she had never felt before, Alchana scrambled backwards; her levitation device having stuttered and brought her to the floor. They, no, _she_, hadn't stopped to comprehend what they might be unleashing.

And now it was too late to turn back.

Their moist skin began to burn from the heat being emitted by the prototype and Tiron also fell back to the ground. There was a loud crack in the air and the permeating smell of burnt ozone before they both were enveloped in darkness.

When Alchana came slowly back into consciousness she found the prototype sitting up slowly, its still-new pistons and gears grinding from the sudden movement. It didn't seem to acknowledge her or Tiron as it was more focused on flexing its servo like it was a newly discovered appendage. She gave a barely noticeable sigh of relief when she saw that the optics, while still white, did not have the same soul-piercing sharpness that they did before. Now they were softer, almost curious as it began to take in its surroundings.

She shook Tiron roughly by the shoulders and he mumbled irritably about younglings waking him up again at a pit-spawned groon before he realized he was still in the lab. He sat up quickly and pressed his tentacles to his head, similarly to how Alchana was now poised. The blast had left them both with a throbbing headache.

"W-what just happened?" He asked slowly as he activated his thrusters.

Alchana groaned slightly and increased the pressure her tentacles were applying to her head; whatever caused them to black out had left her with an excruciating headache right behind her eyes. She glanced over to the prototype which was now attempting to wiggle each digit of its servo separately before taking Tiron's proffered appendages as he pulled her upright.

"I-I don't know..." she whispered and her voice cracked painfully at the admission, "I just don't know."

* * *

**And here's your next chapter, (early even!) my dear readers! I am really excited about the next chapter because it's the one you've all been waiting for! Also, special thanks to _shadowwriter01 _for the suggestion for the acronym Cyber-TRON.**

**Thanks for reading everyone and for all the fav's and follows, please remember to drop a review!**

_**Special thanks to my sister for beta reading my story for me! Just because she doesn't have an account doesn't mean she gets any less credit. Love ya, sis!**_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

_Revised Pretenses_

* * *

_"I-I don't know..." she whispered and her voice cracked painfully at the admission, "I just don't know."_

Tiron was unsure what to say next. What could he say? In all the vorns he had known Alchana never had he seen her admit to not knowing... _to fear._ She was once of the best scientists he knew, always digging for more, pushing the limits of science just to see what would happen. The unknown had never stopped her from poking and prodding the universe in vain attempts to bend it to her will.

He didn't bother to pull back when she flicked her tentacles roughly out of his grasp.

Alchana was lost in her own frozen thoughts, trying to make sense of the emotion locking her into place. It made no sense to her, the reasoning behind her own fears. There was no logic behind it, only raw freezing emotions that she couldn't control or understand. That in itself frightened her.

Tiron rubbed his temples and angled himself down to pick up the scanner that Alchana had dropped. He ran it over the prototype once, then again and a third time for good measure. The prototype stopped playing with its servos and began to follow Tiron's movements as he ran the scanner over its chassis. With his focus on the scanner Tiron didn't notice that he was being quietly observed.

Everything was so new to the prototype, everything from the berth he was sitting on to the way his digits bent. An insatiable curiosity filled him since the first moment he came into awareness. It was hard to take in his surroundings; there was so much newness about them.

His optics flickered briefly, his systems still calibrating for the first time being online, and his gaze followed the creature in front of him. It wasn't paying much attention to him, more focused on the device held in its tentacle-like appendage.

"Alchana you need to look at this." Tiron started, his voice tinged with unease. When she didn't respond immediately he turned around and shook her gently by the shoulders. "Alchana, snap out of it! NOW!"

Alchana shuddered slightly before looking at him with bleary eyes. Her brow creased darkly and Tiron moved away, dropping his tentacles and handing her the scanner. She snatched it out of his hands and began to repeat the same process he had just gone through. He could tell she was shaken despite her best efforts to hide it; unfortunately one did not spend as much time around her as he did without learning how to read her movements.

At the moment he sensed a certain apprehension towards the prototype as well as a small degree of curiosity and bewilderment hampered only by her fear. Her movements jerked with an edge that also led him to the conclusion that she was being eaten with anger; anger at herself for her fear and frustration with her inability to conceal it. She was still the same Alchana he knew; only now he saw her differently.

Now she was beginning to rant under her breath about scanners telling her how the laws of physics no longer applied. Tiron took a breath to steady his nerves somewhat before he ventured to speak.

"From what I can tell it would seem as though the crystalline energy source has manifested itself into an orb of some sort."

Alchana snorted and turned to him with a look he was all too familiar with. "Your powers of observation _never_ fail to amaze me, Tiron." She said sarcastically. "The 'orb' as you have so _aptly_ described the phenomenon seems to be the source of the prototype's energy distribution, so far as I can tell." Tiron raised an eye ridge at that statement and she tossed the scanner to an empty berth parallel to the one where the prototype was situated.

"The scanner is useless, spitting out some slag about how physics no longer exist as we know them." She growled in frustration.

Nope, she was definitely still the same quint. "Have you considered that it might be right? We could be dealing with something beyond our understanding." He said slowly, careful to keep his tone neutral.

"Nothing is beyond science!" Alchana protested determinedly, "Everything is defined by science; we need only find the definition. And then understanding will come."

Tiron had no wish to pursue the matter after seeing her vehement response. The way he saw it, it was better if she found a way to explain the un-explainable to suit her frame of mind than if he tried to convince her otherwise.

By now the prototype had taken an interest in its surroundings and its optics roamed freely between Tiron and Alchana as they spoke. Every little thing was so new to the mechanical being and it observed every detail, taking in the room around it with infantile curiosity.

"I assume you added vocal processing units?" Tiron asked even though he didn't need to. He still remembered the main aspects from the datapad she had given him. That should mean that the prototype could process and respond to vocal commands. He had no doubts that Alchana had not skipped over any programming in such regards.

"Command: State your designation." He addressed the prototype directly. He didn't need to see Alchana to know that he had her attention completely.

"Unit designation A-003. Subclass: prototype." Before he even knew what he was doing he was responding. It was an automatic response, ingrained in the core of his programming. A-003's voice was deeper than either of them had expected and crackled with static.

A-003 looked up to observe the two beings before him more closely. They looked so very different from his own appearance, with rounded bodies and thin, whip-like appendages. They were certainly more organic, with strange devices that seemingly allowed them to float. The prototype held up his own appendage, his right servo, and flexed it slowly, taking in the all differences between them.

Tiron could feel Alchana's curiosity rubbing onto him as she hovered behind him, almost eagerly, to see what he would do next. It baffled him slightly that she was allowing him to initiate the first contact with the prototype. Or rather, A-003 as he had been officially designated. It was different though, unnerving even, to have the prototype speak its own designation.

"Unit A-003: state your function." Tiron asked slowly. He watched as the prototype tilted its head in thought, one could almost hear the gears turning in his processor.

"This unit has no function." A-003 responded sadly after a moment's thought. His voice cracked slightly. He didn't understand why, but to not have a designated function made him feel hollow. Like he was empty inside.

Tiron could almost hear the disappointment in its, no, his voice. The prototype's design definitely warranted the use of a masculine pronoun.

Alchana shifted from her place behind him and approached the prototype directly for the first time since it had activated. He noticed how her eyes were kept carefully trained on the prototype's optics and made a mental note to construct a colored lens of sorts. He also found the bright gaze of the prototype somewhat unnerving, although not to the same extent as Alchana did.

"At present your primary function is to learn and develop as a productive addition to the empire." Alchana stated her voice uncharacteristically soft. One might have mistaken the softness for some vague display of kindness, but anyone with any experience would know otherwise. She was still quite wary of her own creation, the softness only a result of this strange source of fear.

A-003 looked up at the being that spoke, quintesson, his processor supplied. The edges of his vision filled momentarily with definitions, reasonings ingrained within his very being.

He was the creation, they were the masters, the creators. His place was to obey and to serve the Empire. Though the prototype didn't know much of such things; all he knew was that he was to follow the commands of his creators, Master Creator Alchana and Creator Tiron.

A-003 shuttered his optics and nodded while this new feeling spread through his consciousness. The prototype mulled this idea over in his head before replying with an overly enthusiastic nod. "Affirmative Master Creator Alchana."

Tiron wondered what the point was of letting 'it' believe it had a say in the matter. The prototype was built to start the upheaval of the Judges, not make friends and indulge in curiosity. Sentient being or not, it was still just a machine and no different from a drone. He trusted that Alchana would remember that. And if she didn't, then it was his duty to remind her. That is, if he could trust himself to remember this as well.

He looked over to Alchana where she had her back turned to him having moved away from the prototype to type something into her console. Tiron was sure that there was more of a reason to what she had told A-003. She almost always had deeper plans behind her sometimes obtuse actions. It was just a matter of waiting to see what would happen.

In the meantime he would have to figure out what to do with the prototype. If it was indeed as sentient as he believed it was then he would need to keep it occupied. He approached Alchana from behind.

"How do you intend to proceed, Duani?" He asked.

Alchana paused and her tentacles stiffened over the console, "We will observe."

"And then what?" Tiron pushed.

"We have programmed him to obey, when the time comes, I have no doubt that we will succeed in our goals." She answered readily, catching the attention of the prototype. Tiron found the feeling to be disturbing, having the prototype staring at them so intently.

He blinked suddenly as a thought occurred to him, "You plan on building more, don't you?" It wasn't a question; it was a statement of fact.

Alchana turned to face him directly for the first time during the conversation, "I plan on integrating them into the empire itself." Her faces abruptly changed to a yellow color scheme as she went on, her voice growing bolder. "They will serve as interactive servants. We will be able to gather information from right out of under their noses and never be suspected. Then, when the time is right, we will strike and there will be too many of us, of _them_, to resist."

Tiron allowed a smirk to grow on his face as her excitement grew. It was a faultless plan, simple and effective; just the way he liked it. Alchana really had thought this through and it surprised him somewhat, the simplicity of her plan. Many of her ideas were often rushed and complicated, full of unnecessary precautions to prevent suspicion.

"There are others of this unit?" A-003 unfamiliar metallic voice spoke up in the silence. The prototype scrunched up its faceplates as if looking for the right word, showing an amount of dexterity in the smooth metal plates Tiron hadn't thought possible.

"Brothers?" A-003 asked, his deeper voice smoothing itself out into a mild baritone. He found that he liked the sound of his vocals. They were much more pleasing than that of the two quintessons; their voices seemed to be perpetually layered with sinister undertones and deeper meanings promised within.

Alchana hovered backwards and her lips pulled into a disturbing grin, her third and most ambitious face still dominant, "Not yet, not yet... But there will be. There will be many more where you came from, Unit A-003."

There was a cold promise in her words, a sheer determination and an undeniable undertone. Tiron had always known that Alchana was more fixed on the idea of overpowering the Judges than some of the other quints he knew, however, he now had a sinking suspicion that her vehemence towards them ran deeper than simple discontent. But he also had his own reasons for joining, far more powerful than most quints who were part of the insurrection.

A-003 pulled back slightly at her voice, he decided that he didn't like the way it sounded. It promised bad things, he could almost feel it somehow. He pushed the feeling away and focused more on what she had actually said and not on the strange feelings about what she meant. The prototype could not understand the alien feelings that thrummed within his core, no more than he could disobey a command from his masters. It went against all his programming, everything that he thought he knew.

There were going to be more like him! The thought thrilled him unlike anything he had felt in the small time he had existed so far. A-003 wondered if perhaps he could aid in their creation. He was fascinated with the little details in the gears and joints of his own frame and hoped that perhaps he might be able to learn more about how they worked. The idea gave him a goal to work towards for whenever he began his function to learn.

Alchana moved across the lab, disappearing behind a corner into the darkened areas beyond. Tiron moved forward, seamlessly continuing his work without a further word necessary between him and his colleague.

"Command: Hold still." His creator said neutrally, picking up the same scanner he had used on the prototype before.

A-003's body stiffened automatically and he found himself unable to move even a micron. He strained against his programming for a brief moment before resigning himself to the lack of movement. It was as if all connections to his motor functions had been severed by a simple command. In this particular case he realized, they had.

"Query: What are you doing?" He asked cautiously when Tiron began waving a strange device around his face once again. It beeped ominously as he lowered his tentacle to his chassis.

"I am scanning your energy conversion chamber." He stated without even bothering to look at him before plugging the device into a console. A-003 opened his mouth to ask 'why' but was interrupted by the single faced quintesson.

"Command: Remain silent."

A-003 felt his face scrunch up in confusion when he couldn't speak. He had a feeling that he was not exactly welcomed by the engineer. Why couldn't he ask questions if his primary function was to learn?

At least he could move again now that the new command was in place. He chose to stay as still as possible though so that the quintesson wouldn't freeze him again. Not being able to speak was more favorable to being locked into one place with no way to even twitch. That didn't mean he liked the silence though.

Instead he settled down with a grumpy frown and went back to investigating his digits. He curled and uncurled them, noting the complexity of the thin wiring in-between the joints as he moved them. It brought another question to his mind, how was he here? How was he alive? A-003 almost expected an answer to appear in his processor like he had experienced before, but the programming only told him that he was created. Surely it could not be so simple.

He vented a large gust of air that whistled slightly as it was expelled from his intakes earning him a razor-sharp glare from the single faced quint. A-003 went silent once more, wondering why he was being ignored.

A curious thought came to him and A-003 experimentally vented, this time with an exaggerated huff. This time Tiron stopped what he was doing to glower at him darkly. A-003's head cocked slightly as he observed this near instantaneous reaction. _Interesting._

Suddenly there was an audio piercing clang of metal hitting metal and proceeding to bounce. Then silence. A-003 shook his helm to clear his processor of the metallic ring that echoed through it. What was that?

"Tiron, come get your runt out of my lab!"

The accompanying shout echoed around the walls of the lab and the single faced quintesson quickly levitated around the corner, a concerned look on his face.

A-003 vented softly once more and tried to listen to what was going on outside of his vision. His own silence unnerved him. The idea came to his processor that he might just sit there forever, forgotten in plain sight. He shuddered and the thin metal plates covering his chassis shrunk down into his frame. For some reason the thought terrified him to no end, the thought of being alone.

A-003 shifted slightly, feeling the jerky movements of his knee joints as they swayed off the edge of the berth. Taking a chance he slowly slid off the table and carefully placed his weight onto his pedes for the first time. He shuttered his optics at the slight creaking sound the brand new joints made and cautiously straightened his spinal struts, but his grip remained tight on the berth.

He had hoped that he might go and investigate the sounds coming from around the corner. He wasn't sure how his creators would react to such actions, but his curiosity compelled him to move forward. Besides, no one was paying him any attention at the moment.

The next thing he knew, something or someone ran into his chassis, sending his already unsteady pedes out of underneath him.

* * *

**Alright so this chapter, as well as the next, is by far the most severely edited chapters so far, the exception possibly being the first two chapters. For those of you re-reading from Cybertrons Dawn, you will notice that I have spliced and completely reworked chapters ten and eleven.**

"Her movements jerked with an edge that also led him to the conclusion that she was being eaten with anger; anger at herself for her fear and frustration with her inability to conceal it." **- This line makes me think of Alchana singing Frozen's "Let it Go" for some odd reason. I imagine it would sound rather creepier in a psychotic sort of way. _"...Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know..."_**

**Please review! Heheh, don't mind the crazy that is known as an author!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

_Levels of Intelligence_

* * *

Hemir was humming. It was a soft tune that his first mentor, or caretaker as he had preferred to be called, had favored. Not many quints were very fond of music, but he had acquired a taste for it.

He was currently roaming down the halls of the development wing in search of his new mentor. He had just finished paying his dues to the Judges, a singularly mundane task he'd have rather avoided, but that was just the way of things. Hemir didn't particularly care for the Judges' way of things, but he never had anything against them either. Sure, there were rumors and while he was always sure to keep tabs on that side of things, he didn't feel a need to seek out trouble.

Especially if the rumors were true.

There was no need for it after all. _'I'd say I've done a slaggin' good job taking care of myself over the last few vorns.'_ Hemir thought smugly. He hoped that his caretaker would be proud. He had made something of himself getting an apprenticeship and finding a position in the Science Division, among other equally important milestones in the young quints life.

"Ah, here we are!" He exclaimed in undertones to himself as he approached the main labs that his mentor worked in with that professor femme Alchana.

Hemir shook his head slightly at the amount of rumors floating around that belonged to her alone. From what he'd heard she was a bit of a psycho. Not that he believed the rumors, of course. He just kept an eye on the local chatter, but it wouldn't surprise him if she were. Being a three facer and all that slag.

Hemir entered the lab without any qualms whether or not anyone else was inside working on something. On entering the lab he found it darkened, the only source of light being in the far section of the lab, though he couldn't see around the corner. All he could see was a faded shadow of something or other, bipedal by the looks of it.

He decided that perhaps he should try to come back later. No point in interrupting or getting tied up in something he didn't want to do. He could spend the rest of the cycle relaxing by himself or finding some entertainment at a local hub. Yeah, that would be good.

Suddenly a figure came sharply around the corner and Hemir scurried backwards to try to duck underneath a console. He almost made it without being noticed, but then he bumped into a tray of tools and sent them flying across the floor, clattering loudly against the metal. Hemir winced before cursing sharply to himself and scrambled to put everything back in its place, praying desperately that she hadn't seen him and would mistake the falling tools as a fluke. No such luck.

"What are you doing in my lab!?" An angered voice yelled out, most definitely femme judging by the pitch. "What are _you _doing here!?"

Hemir cowered slightly when he looked up to see Alchana glowering at him. It was too late to escape now, but he didn't know what other course of action to take. Submission maybe? Yeah, only if he wanted his head on a silver platter. She was _the_ Professor, the only one known to withstand her moods was Tiron, who just so happened to be his mentor. Unfortunately, she also had no idea that her colleague had taken on an apprentice.

"I, uh... Hi." Hemir could have strangled himself. That was the best he could do? Say _'hi'_ to the embodiment of his doom? "I was, um... looking for someone and he's obviously not here so I'll just be... going... now." He trailed off and stopped talking when Alchana continued to glare at him.

"And just who do you think you are going to find in my lab?" She did not have the time to deal with some lost youngling when she was in the middle of examining possibly the most influential object of the insurrection to date.

"Doesn't Tiron work here?" Hemir asked cautiously and didn't realize his mistake of casually addressing his mentor until the words had already left his mouth.

Alchana eyed the younger quint with a mixture of suspicion and surprise. "What is he to a youngling like you?"

She didn't like where this was leading. She knew that her colleague always had a soft spot for the younger generations, but if he had done what she thought he had...

"The Respected Engineer Tiron is my mentor."

Alchana's eyes narrowed dangerously. She would have to address that with her errant colleague later for sure. Tiron couldn't just go around picking up random younglings out of whatever division he happened upon to take as apprentices. She thought he knew that, but apparently she would have to make it all that bit clearer to him.

"Tiron, come get your runt out of my lab!" She called out in annoyance. Hemir straightened marginally; apparently his mentor was here after all.

Tiron came swiftly around the corner of the L-shaped lab and was shocked to see his apprentice cowering under Alchana's gaze. What was he doing in the lab at this joor?! And what was he going to tell Alchana? It was obvious by her incensed expression that she had discovered his connection to the young engineer. Quite likely Hemir hadn't even thought of using discretion concerning his apprenticeship.

"Hemir, what are you doing here?" He asked slowly, the deeper aspects of his voice rumbling through the empty room, showing his disapproval.

The younger quint hesitated, feeling the suddenly heavy weight in the air before speaking. "I was only..." Hemir didn't get to finish before Alchana interrupted him.

"I don't care what you thought you were doing! The only thing you are doing now is leaving!" She shrieked angrily, causing Hemir to shrink back down into the floor. He hadn't even had a chance to reactivate his levitation boosters from where he had tried to pick up the tools he had knocked over.

Tiron frowned slightly the reaction, seeing the barely restrained terror on his young apprentice's face. "Alchana, could you please refrain from intimidating my ward?"

"Could your ward refrain from ransacking my laboratory?" She countered readily, her thrusters flaring.

Hemir shuffled his tentacles awkwardly, now both of them were glaring at him; Alchana in aggressive dislike and Tiron with a subdued displeasure.

"I-I'm sorry Respected Mentor, Honorable Professor." Hemir ventured to apologize and hopefully relieve some tension. It really was his fault for poking his nose into places he shouldn't have been.

Tiron relaxed a fraction when his ward apologized. It wouldn't change that he would be in for a rant, courtesy of Alchana, but it would help her to calm down enough to leave the younger quint out of it.

Alchana huffed irritably and glared darkly at Hemir before turning her equally harsh glower to her colleague. "I will have words with you later about _this_, Tiron." She gesture rudely to indicate the youngling behind her.

Oh, yes, she would have words with him about this, but that wouldn't be enough to get rid of his so-called ward. Once a quintesson accepted mentorship over a youngling there was very little one could do to break the connection without going directly to the judges, which she would not even dare attempt.

With one last icy glare at both the squids, Alchana disappeared around to another part of the lab to continue her work on the prototype. Too much time had been wasted already.

After she was gone, Hemir looked up sheepishly to Tiron as if to say '_what's next?'_

Tiron sighed audibly, "What are you doing in the lab, Hemir?" He asked, repeating the same question that Hemir had heard twice already. No doubt the youngling was tired of hearing it by now.

"I was looking for you, actually." Hemir stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world and he couldn't hide the edge of sarcasm tingeing his voice.

"It would be best for you let me know of your arrival beforehand next time." Tiron said slowly and Hemir nodded before he let his curiosity get the best of him. "Especially when Alchana is involved." He added as an afterthought.

Hemir mouth quirked up into a small grin at the comment and he activated his thrusters to roughly propel himself upwards.

"So… just what is it you are working on up here on the first rotation of the new orn?" He asked as his eyes began to wander the darkened lab to where it was better lit. It was also the same section of the lab Alchana had disappeared into. Hemir levitated forward to investigate.

"Hemir-Attra..." Tiron warned him, his mentor's tone heavy with authority.

He ignored it. It was probably not the best thing to do, but Hemir never was one to lay curiosity aside in favor of obedience. Pit, his stubborn curiosity, among other equally important character traits he prided himself on, was most likely the only reason he ended up with Tiron as his mentor in the first place.

So he went around the corner. And promptly maneuvered smack into what looked like a drone.

Another loud clashing of metal against metal rang through the lab as A-003 hit the floor with a solid clang. He would have cried out in surprise if his voice box was still working although not out of pain, rather out of the shock of landing so abruptly on his aft.

"Command: State your status." Master Creator Alchana demanded as Creator Tiron came around the corner with a stern look on his face.

"Status: undamaged." A-003 responded immediately, the command overriding the silencing protocols. Several long lines of data and system analysis's scrolled through his vision, disorientating him momentarily. His programming had responded immediately, but A-003 himself had no comprehension of the information on his HUD.

Because of this he couldn't actually tell if he was damaged or not, but from what he could tell everything felt the same as before. He was just startled. He stood up shakily and gripped the nearest console to steady himself as he had not yet figured out how to keep himself fully upright and balanced yet. He didn't understand why she should be so urgently concerned over his well being.

"Tiron, I thought I told you to get rid of this squid!" She yelled loudly, now directing her irritation fully at the said quint.

"Alchana, please... He is still young and foolhardy. It will not happen again, you have my word." Tiron replied hastily, defending his ward from his colleague's wrath to the best of his ability.

A-003 could tell that the engineer was still angered at the younger quintesson, yet he continued to defend him. The strange action intrigued him.

"It had better not happen again!" Alchana, shrieked in fury. "That idiot could have irreparably damaged the prototype!" She could not afford to have Tiron's ward getting in the way. She wanted Hemir _gone_. Even if it would only be a temporary measure, she wanted him out of her way and out of her lab.

A-003 looked back and forth between his two creators and the young quintesson backed against the wall. He couldn't understand why it was so important that he wasn't damaged, if they did create him then couldn't they just repair him if he got hurt? His confusion only grew as their argument in turn escalated.

"You should keep a tighter tentacle on your ward, Tiron. Others might not be so kind when dealing with snooping younglings in their lab!" She warned threateningly.

"You call this kind? I have already admitted responsibility and yet you continue to spit insults!" Tiron retorted, much less inclined to dismiss her attitude towards his ward than towards himself. What had the prototype been doing off the berth in the first place? he thought angrily. She should have been keeping an eye on it.

"Perhaps if you had asked my permission before accepting your 'ward' I might not need them." She hissed.

Tiron scoffed, so this was what it was really about. He should have known. "I do not need your _permission_ to acquire an apprentice. You know the laws."

The last sentence brought a stifling silence to the room as both scientists glared heatedly at the other. Alchana could not argue with that statement and Tiron knew it. Perhaps it was not the best idea to bring the laws of tradition into the argument, seeing as they were in the process of attempting to overthrow the judges, but some of the laws were part of who they were culturally and Tiron would not see them abandoned in the dawning of a new era.

Alchana sputtered indignantly, "I don't have to take this insolence from you any more than I would from any other lesser quint." She said firmly, crossing her tentacles tightly.

Through all this A-003 watched the younger quintesson in question as he seemed to sag with guilt and frustration. It didn't seem right to him to keep on discussing the past misdeeds. Inexperience made it so that he did not understand that their was much more within the context of the conversation besides Hemir's presence.

"I...I -this unit forgives him." A-003 stated quietly, his vocalizer catching on the word 'I' while his processor firmly fought against him. It made his helm ache.

All three quintessons stared at him openly at the statement as if they hadn't heard correctly. A-003 proceeded to repeat himself. "This unit forgives him." He said again, this time more smoothly despite the growing tension in his processor. He knew the definition of forgive, the definitions of many concepts encoded in his processor, but expressing it was a very different matter.

The younger quint looked up at him in shock and A-003 returned the gaze with curious white optics pulsing gently. Alchana seemed stunned, merely gaping at him, while Tiron looked as if he were seeing him in a completely new light.

A-003 did not know why everyone was suddenly acting this way. Had he done something wrong? Perhaps he was still expected to be silent, he thought with disappointment.

Finally, it was the youngling, Hemir, who broke the silence.

"This thing is alive?" He stated more than asked.

Alchana sighed in exasperation, the shock of A-003 referring to itself in the first person dissipating in exchange for more frustration with Tiron and his ward. Why couldn't he just tell the youngling to go away? A simple enough dismissal that would have rid her of an entirely new variable that she did not want to deal with, but no… Tiron with his morals had formed an attachment to the squid and labeled himself as his mentor.

Her colleague opened his mouth to answer but she took the initiative instead.

"Prototype A-003 is only 'alive' in a sense. We have yet to decide the extent of his sentience." She answered plainly, although her tone was still somewhat disdainful towards the younger quint.

"Like a living, thinking… intelligent being?" Hemir breathed his wonder as he began to circle the prototype in awe. She noted with some small amount of relief that he seemed content to look and not touch the prototype. Tiron hovered behind her anxiously, obviously not happy with either of them at the moment.

The prototype itself was standing stiffly as if it did not like all the attention that it was receiving. Alchana frowned; little did it know how such a small thing like the use of 'I' could be so important. Or troubling. Already she had seen some large signs pointing towards its rate of sentience. One major example being the use of 'I' and another being A-003's seemingly innate curiosity.

"Don't touch anything._ At all._" She told Hemir darkly and smirked when he very consciously backed away from the prototype.

Alchana turned to Tiron and motioned stiffly for him to follow her to a more secluded corner of the lab. Tiron looked again as if he wanted to say something but Alchana cut him off once more with wave of her tentacles.

"What do you plan to do with him?" She hissed sternly, leaving him no room to avoid the question.

Tiron sighed, "You know, it was my intent to keep him out of this." he massaged his temples as a heavy furrow formed from the stress of the situation. "Their is only thing we can do I suppose." He said finally.

Alchana's frown only deepened, "Would you care to elaborate?"

"I am sure you realize we can't just send him away like nothing happened." He paused, and then continued softly. "I never wanted him involved with the insurrection."

"How do you wish to proceed, then?" Alchana questioned, using the same words he had used not even a joor earlier. Slowly she was coming to realize that Tiron actually had a genuine desire, need almost, to protect the youngling. The fact in itself puzzled her seeing as she had never been placed in such a position before.

"With your approval I believe that encouraging interaction between Hemir and prototype might be a good place to start." He said hesitantly.

Alchana pondered the idea momentarily before replying. Outside stimulus of the prototype by interacting with the youngling could prove either rewarding or disastrous. However, the amount of data they could acquire from monitoring such a development was too tempting to resist. She did not like the idea of keeping an youngling in her lab though. It would only cause trouble in the end, of the Alchana was sure.

"The... proposition is acceptable. Under two circumstances." She said quickly before Tiron could get ahead of himself. "One, they are to be under constant observation and two, Hemir must be willing to act as more than playmate."

"To what end?" He asked cautiously, unsure of her intentions.

"Nothing extreme, I wouldn't trust anyone but you or myself to work in the more complicated areas of A-003's development." Alchana turned her gaze towards the prototype where Hemir was trying to get it to talk again. "The prototype will need guidance in area's that you or myself would be unable to provide. Hemir is young, he will teach him."

"I can see where you're going with this." Tiron's teeth ground together in thought before he chuckled tensely, he could tell Alchana still was not pleased with the idea of having the youngling around. "Someone needed to teach the prototype how to maneuver in any case."

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**And that's chapter eleven people! I am really hoping that I can pick up some more reviews with A-003 entering the stage.**

**Thank you all for reading, don't forget to drop a review! Even if its just a note saying that your reading this, I would really appreciate it!**


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